Deviations
by Blazing Chaos
Summary: If life went differently, and Takato and Rika were the only two Tamers at least to start with , would they survive? Or would they kill each other before they could ever become a team? Eventual Rukato
1. Similar Yet Different

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story (except where stated).

This is an idea for a fic I had as a more casual fic to work on alongside Dimensions, although it will also be just as emotional. The first half of this chapter at least will seem all-too familiar, until we move into the main 'what if' idea about this fic.

The basic premise is this: What if Rika and Takato were the only two Tamers, at least to start with? Would Renamon have beaten Guilmon? How would they get along without Henry there to act as a calm voice of reason? Would Takato have become a better Tamer, and how would Rika have affected him in him becoming so? What would they do if there was no hope of any backup?

At first, I thought that this wasn't such a good idea, but then I fleshed it out somewhat in my plan, and I really like the idea, and so I present:

* * *

**DEVIATIONS**

_**Chapter 1**_

_Similar Yet Different_

* * *

The growling frightened the life out of the brunette as he fell ungracefully backwards onto his bottom, his voice cracked up by fear as the golden eyes stared into his azure ones.

"Okay, just stay calm…everything's going to be fine…" the boy said, his voice anything other than confident on what he had said.

The red dinosaur, black lines crossing his skin and an unusual mark on his belly, had just pulverised some rats into oblivion, and now seemed prepared to do the same to the boy with scruffy hair, a blue hooded pullover and grey pants, complimented by a small white device with a red ring hung around the screen hung around his neck on a string. The dirty grubby industrial facility he had ended up in, the grey concrete dominating the walls of the circular pit, added to the boy's opinion that his outlook was bleak.

'_I just wanted a friend…'_ the boy thought, releasing the rapidly approaching fate, and how he had caused it. _'I thought I'd have a partner…like in the TV show…why do I always mess everything up?'_

The monster stepped forward slightly, the boy recoiling in fright as the growling increased in intensity.

'_Whoever gave me that blue card has got to have the sickest sense of humour I've ever seen…'_

The boy's name was Takato Matsuki, and he was your average, if slightly eccentric, twelve year old Japanese student. Homework was bad, goofing around was good. He had particular interests in the form of Digimon Cards and drawing, but the former he rarely managed to see much competitive play in. In his school, few played it, and those few were the same few that thought he was goofy, leading to him having few friends, and none of whom he was particularly close with. Although occasionally having a loud mouth, he was mostly quiet in class, until of course Mrs Asagi, their teacher who he once joked "couldn't laugh even if you gave her a laughing machine", found his drawings, and questioned what they were, like she had done the previous day.

The drawings on that particular day were of the creature which now threatened him, sharp claws on his arms placed out to his front, and the ever-present peril of flames propelled from the mouth. Burned alive by Pyro Sphere or stabbed to death by Rock Breaker; neither of the opportunities were particularly enticing to Takato, but he couldn't for the life of him, which was ironically exactly what was at stake, move his legs or arms in an attempt to avoid impending doom.

And how did he know the attacks of this creature? Simple, he had designed Guilmon in the first place. Having drawn the dinosaur and his stats, he scanned it through his D-Arc, an attempt which originally ended in failure, but then began to work, scanning his drawings one by one until a digi-egg appeared on the screen. Takato did find it odd how the device had taken in his page of random scribbles as well, the result of frustration at his teacher and the clock at the front of the classroom's lack of movement, but he presumed the device was smart enough to ignore them. Even if it read them, what harm could it possibly do?

Speaking of the device, it had once been his card reader, which he, along with his cards, left in his hiding place in a dinosaur play structure every day. He would leap at the opportunity to play cards with anyone, be they unbeatable, girl or otherwise, but he just never seemed to have the luck. It almost seemed as if his friends were missing, as if he were meant to have something else.

The blue card had once been a speed modify card, which had suddenly altered when dropped from the mostly-hidden cavity in the top of the dinosaur down to the floor below, landing with an odd metallic sound which still bewildered Takato, although not as much as what the card had done when he scanned it through his card reader in a futile attempt at identifying it. His card reader had suddenly, and seemingly impossibly, changed shape, expanding outwards, upwards and sideways into the D-Arc he now had around his neck. For the average person, this would be surprising enough, but for Takato, a boy who had an obsession with Digimon in general, and always dreamed of having his own personal partner who would unconditionally be his friend, this was the most surprising thing that ever happened in his entire life, and also that would ever happen, excepting a particular incident that was yet to occur in the future that would leave him not only surprised, but strangely happy at the same time.

And that incident would change his entire life from that point on (and it was one he would eventually claim to be the best moment in his life, despite the events surrounding it), just like this one would eventually be until then.

The previous night, he had had an odd dream; it was one where he floated above a road, in his pyjamas, watching a battle between a Renamon and a Lynxmon. What he found most surprising of all was that the Renamon had a partner, a girl with red hair, who seemed to show indifference towards her partner's wellbeing, and seemed only to care about winning. What it meant was something that he couldn't for the life of him figure out.

Then again, he had had plenty of nonsensical dreams that amounted to nothing. The dino in front of him was one of the few exceptions.

"Okay…here's a plan…I scream…then run…" Takato pleaded, putting on a dumb smile as he did so in an attempt to reason with the beast. It was to no avail, as the dinosaur once again made the noise, one eerily close to giggling. "Or not…" he added quickly.

The dinosaur approached closer and closer to Takato, leading him to worry that the beast would soon break into his secondary move, Rock Breaker, a fierce slicing of his claws across the foe using the momentum of his considerable bulk to increase the attack power. Takato knew that he wouldn't withstand that, and, even if he did, he would be hospitalised for a long while. He didn't want to even have to begin considering how to explain this to anyone, let alone his paranoid mother, who would ring the police if he was late home from school, and refused to let him have a pet.

"Please…" he pleaded. "Don't do it Guilmon!" he added, fear dominating his voice as he moved his arms over his head and looked down in a futile attempt at self-preservation, as the dinosaur growled.

Electricity sparked between broken pipes and wires behind him, as Guilmon drew closer, and closer.

"Oh no…" he exclaimed. "I created a Digimon and now he's going to blast me to smithereens…all I wanted was a friend…"

"Friend?" the dinosaur asked, sniffing him and poking his snout into the boy's hair.

"And the last thing I'll hear is that horrible…" Takato began, hesitating when he thought he heard the dinosaur say something, as he looked up in curiosity. "…what did you say?"

"You want friend?" the dinosaur asked, his voice defying attempts at description. It sounded childish and unthreatening, despite Takato's fear.

"Um…yeah…" Takato replied, now completely thrown for a loop. Was he meant to be cowering in fear? Was he meant to be happy? He had absolutely no idea.

"What is friend?" Guilmon asked, cocking his head in confusion.

"You're not going to attack me?" Takato asked.

"No…why?" Guilmon asked. "Do you want me to?" he then added, Takato quickly shaking his head.

"No..." he replied, smiling dumbly at the question, before beginning to rethink the situation. "This is the coolest…" he said, laughing. "You're really mine? You're really my partner?"

"Am I?" Guilmon asked, pointing with his claw to himself.

"Yeah…" Takato replied. "I'm Takato…"

"Ah…" Guilmon replied. "I'm Takato?" he asked.

"No, I'm Takato, you're Guilmon…" Takato clarified, somewhat surprised at the confusion.

"I Guilmon?"

"Yeah…"

"I Guilmon, you Takatomon?"

Takato laughed exasperatingly. "No…I'm not a Digimon…"

"Aren't you?"

"No…"

"Oh…"

* * *

"Stay in the box…" Takato whispered, taking note of the surrealism of what he was doing. Inside the box that had been designed for shipping televisions, he had a Digimon, one he had created as well. And what did that make him?"

"Okay…" the thing inside replied, a bit too loudly for Takato.

"Quiet…" he whispered, as he moved within earshot of his parents.

"Hey Takato…" his father asked nervously, glancing up from his paper to see his son with a cardboard box that he proceeded to push up the stairs, somewhat ungracefully as he let go and it appeared to continue up all on its own. "What's in the box?" Takehiro asked curiously, with a hint of teasing in his voice.

"Um…it's nothing…just a box, a regular ordinary box, full of nothing…" Takato replied.

"Why exactly do you have a box?" his father asked.

"Well, you know me, I'm crazy…" Takato replied, laughing nervously, before moving out of earshot, as Takehiro contemplated what could be in the box.

'_Probably a pet…Mie'll kill him when she finds out…'_

"It better not be any more trash Takato, I'll only throw it out as soon as I find it…" replied the aforementioned Mie, the mother of the boy who was currently lugging a box up the stairs.

"Okay…" Takato replied nervously. He opened the door to his room, and Guilmon ran out of the box, looking at all the new delights he could see, as Takato quickly closed the door. Mie sighed; Takato seemed to do the strangest things. Why would he bring a pet home when he knew that she specifically forbade him to have one?

Guilmon knocked a series of papers on the floor, before looking at some already there. "It's me…" he cheered, seeing the remains of the notebook, before sniffing it.

"Guilmon!" Takato complained. "Look, you've got to try not to demolish everything you see, and you can't cause trouble…this is the human world here, not the Digital World…"

"Digital World?" Guilmon asked. "What's that?"

"Didn't you come from the Digital World?"

"No, why?"

"So I really created you…"

"Really, Takatomon create me?"

"No, it's Takato…"

"Ta…ka…to…mon?" the dino asked, Takato's enthusiastic expression turning to exasperation upon hearing the last syllable.

"I'm not a Digimon…"

"Aren't you?" the dino dumbly asked.

"No…hold on, one sec…"Takato told his partner, before having an idea. He rummaged around in a box behind him for a pair of goggles he had found discarded in the park. Sure, it'd make everyone think he was nuts, but at the same time; every leader of the Digidestined had to have goggles, didn't they?

Was he a Digidestined? Was he the leader? Did these things even matter, he pondered, as he strapped the black strap round his head and displayed the yellow framed goggles for his partner to see.

"See, I'm a Digimon…um…" he pondered, looking for a name.

"Yeah, you're a Digimon…" Guilmon replied, presuming that what he had said all along was true.

"No, I'm a Digimon Tamer!" Takato cheered, thinking of the name on the spot. It wasn't bad, although he had an odd feeling he'd heard it somewhere before.

"Ooh…goggles…" Guilmon exclaimed.

* * *

Not far away, computers worked away, providing all the heat that the Tokyo Metropolitan Building needed, the problem being when they got too hot.

The computers used by Hypnos were some of the most powerful computers in existence, despite not officially existing. They were a result of the SIGnal INTerception system, better known as SIGINT, that began to be created in the cold war, but in the 1980s were fully established in the United States, known as Echelon. The Japanese version of it was Hypnos, established in 2001, was created to catch up to them in information surveillance. Several countries now featured these systems, in secret naturally. Echelon was today controlled by the SDCO (Special Digital Control Organisation), and the projects were all similar, based on a common pool of research. The main thing that varied was how effective they were, and how often they had to be used to deal with the new threat.

Effectiveness was both related to how many attacks there were, and the quality of the person spearheading it. In Hypnos' case, it had been a young Mitsuo Yamaki, an enthusiastic scientist who was put in control after the systems' construction was completed in 2001. The project looked able to prevent all of the threats to the country, and was highly secretive, hidden within the Tokyo Metropolitan Building, known to others as simply being a part of the government. Compared to other secret projects, it was easy to hide, given that all of its infrastructure was entirely within a building, and so the future looked bright for Yamaki, his enthusiasm allowing him to deal with the number of threats they received that was natural for such a high-tech country.

The enthusiasm didn't hold out.

The lighter clicked within the control room, a sound which the two technicians, Riley Ootori and Tally Onodera, had grown to ignore as they continued to watch the systems for 'Wild Ones', the names given to the renegade data patterns that came from the Digital Plane, and were a diversion from the intention of Hypnos, a network surveillance system, but had now seemingly become the system's purpose.

What made this particular branch of the SIGINT project different was that this one had a far higher frequency of threats than others, and this in turn had led inevitably to some of the Wild Ones escaping through the firewalls. They would bioemerge into the real world, taking a form made of false proteins created in a Digital Field, a natural consequence caused by the real world's matter colliding with the other world's data. The unnoticed irony of the situation was that it was Hypnos itself that had created the weak point that allowed them to escape, although this did have the benefit of limiting most bioemergences to being within a nearby range of Hypnos.

At this particular moment, the operatives were tracking a wild one that threatened to escape into the real world, and avoid any untold destruction that it could cause.

"Lock on the target has been acquired, tracking sequence initialised…" Riley said, pressing buttons on her keyboard at a rate acquired through her skill and experience as the chief technician.

"Send a tracer…" Yamaki ordered.

"Affirmative, tracer meeting target in 5, 4, 3, 2…" Tally said, pausing as a visual came up on the screen of a being, which looked somewhat like a goblin. It was a render of the digital plane using the complex systems, but it was enough to disgust Tally and Yamaki, although the later was out of contempt for the being's existence rather than for its visible appearance.

A bone-like club smashed through the tracer as the picture went blank, Yamaki frowning in response. "Send Yuggoth…" he ordered.

"It's too late; he's going to breach…" Riley said in alarm.

"Don't question orders!" Yamaki snapped, Riley frowning as she gave the program coordinates.

"Yuggoth activation in 5, 4, 3…target has breached…" she read.

Yamaki frowned, the wild one had escaped into the real world, where it could potentially cause unknown levels of destruction.

The thing which bugged him was that so far, none of the wild ones had managed to do so. All had been eliminated by an unknown assailant, the identity of whom Hypnos was currently investigating. Naturally, they would be arrested and questioned as soon as their identity was confirmed, and it was only a matter of time before they managed to do so.

"Send a team to that location…" Yamaki ordered.

"Doing so…" Riley replied, dispatching government agents to the location. Whoever or whatever was there was in for some trouble…

* * *

A girl ran along a square paved area of the park, passing a couple appreciating the seemingly calm atmosphere of the area, which was doused somewhat by the appearance of a dense fog from nowhere.

The girl placed a pair of tinted sunglasses onto her face, as she raced towards to fog, a contradictory movement to that of the rest of those enjoying the evening. A shadow gracefully leapt from tree to tree, perfectly timed to coordinate with the redhead with a ponytail who ran along the path, determination dominating her features as she entered the fog, the view clarifying as she moved past its outer layer.

"There it is…" she noted, removing her glasses, having already passed through the part that would normally cause temporary vision impairment. A bipedal yellow fox leapt in to the side of her, as the girl stopped, looking to the shadow in the mist.

The girl wore a white shirt with blue shoulders and a broken blue heart in the middle, along with blue jeans complimented by pair of brown belts; one in the usual place and one around her leg. She held out her blue-ringed D-Arc as the fox's eyes trained on the foe.

A hologram showing the shadow's image and its details appeared above the screen, the girl reading it out. "Goblimon, Virus Type, Rookie Level, attacks with Goburi Bomb and Goburi Strike…how pathetic, turn him into data Renamon…"

"As you wish…" the fox replied, leaping into the air.

The girl smiled a cold smile, watching her partner pummel the goblin, taunting him for fun, but every time the Goblin seemed to continue on as normal, a fact which bugged the girl and it became clear that it was bugging her partner Renamon too.

"He's not loosing strength Rika…" the digimon told her.

"Then we'll liven things up won't we…" she replied, lifting a card to her D-Arc and sweeping it through a slot on the side, calling out the name as she did so. "DIGI-MODIFY…Hyper Chip Activate!" she yelled, clearly having done the same act so many times that she didn't even need to check that she had lined the card up with the slot correctly.

Renamon glowed as she gained the new abilities, but Rika frowned in annoyance as Goblimon began to glow as well, changing shape to an alternate form of a digimon she identified as Ogremon, a quick glance at her D-Arc telling her that this new form was called Fugamon.

"How did he digivolve?" she asked, annoyed. "He shouldn't be able to…"

Despite the new level difference, and the outstanding weakness due to types, Rika still had no doubts for her partner's success in this battle. Renamon had taken on champions before and won with ease, she made it look effortless. And it would be, once Rika had her way, once even modify cards were unneeded.

She didn't even need any worthless co-Digidestined like in the TV show, so much of which she had discovered was a lie. All she needed was herself, Renamon, and her D-Arc, and once Renamon was strong enough, even her D-Arc would become unnecessary. Nothing could stop them.

* * *

A pair of golden eyes opened in the darkness, interrupting the gentle breathing of the brunette as he slept. He looked across to see Guilmon, growling by the window, and stood up, trying to see what his partner was looking at.

"What's wrong boy?" Takato asked, narrowing his eyes. "There's nothing there…" he added.

He looked uneasily at his partner, who continued to growl, before the noise gradually died down.

* * *

Rika frowned as Renamon and Fugamon faced off, trading their first blows, as she frowned.

"Renamon, I'm going to be very vexed if you lose…"

Renamon nodded, leaping forward and attacking, demolishing the structures that lay around the baseball pitch as she did so.

Renamon would beat anything. Rika knew that, and she smiled as Fugamon fell to the ground, Renamon leaping into the air and preparing her signature move.

"DIAMOND STORM!" she yelled, the ice diamonds she had prepared let loose from her crossed arms and flying at Fugamon, before each one exploded, turning the enemy into mere data.

Rika smiled as Renamon began to absorb the data. "One by one…" she noted. "Champions, rookies, anything will be beaten by you Renamon…" she added. "Even without needing cards…"

* * *

A fresh day dawned as Takato sneaked out of his room, running to collect the day old bread, the day day old bread, and, in some cases, a loaf that had been there for at least a year. He frowned, glancing at it, but the stern words of his mother detracted his thoughts. He quietly pondered whether Digimon could get food poisoning.

"Takato…" she began, as he continued to shovel bread into his rucksack, pockets, and even his hood.

"Yeah?" he asked, trying to act innocent.

"If you've got a pet up there, you've got to get rid of it, you know we can't have animals in the house…"

"Don't worry; it's not an animal…" Takato replied, smiling as he left.

"See, what did I tell you?" Takehiro noted to her from his position reading the newspaper. Mie frowned, what could Takato be keeping if it wasn't an animal?

* * *

"Ya hey!" Guilmon exclaimed, leaping off the roof in his box and onto Takato.

"Get…off…blocking…air…"

"Sorry…" Guilmon replied.

* * *

Takato smiled, looking at what he had managed to cobble together from cardboard boxes near a construction site. It wasn't particularly good, but it'd do until he found a better place to hide the dinosaur.

"Now, Guilmon, you have to hide here until I finish school…" he told his partner, before noticing his partner's confused expression. "School's a place where they try to make us learn things, it's boring…"

"Nothing's boring with you around Takato…"

Takato smiled, nodding. "Yeah, but Digimon aren't allowed, so you have to stay here, okay?"

"Okay…" Guilmon replied, as Takato remembered something and placed down his bag, chucking out all the bread he had accumulated.

"Here, it's food, you can eat it…" Takato said, taking a bite to demonstrate. What he failed to realise until a few minutes later was that he ate the bread that had been there for a year.

Guilmon nodded, and began to eat. Or rather, wolf down without chewing.

"So I'll see you later, okay?" Takato said.

"Okay…" Guilmon replied, as Takato left. Having finished the bread, he looked up, smiling. "Can we play now?" he asked, frowning when he saw no-one.

Renamon frowned from the roof above. Rika would be interested in taking care of this particular threat. She landed behind the dino, surprising him. He turned around and looked at her, dumbly as ever.

"Hi…" he greeted.

Renamon frowned, and simply kicked him aside.

"Ow…" he complained, groaning in pain. "What was that for?" he asked. "Do you ever talk?" he added, after receiving no reply. Renamon advanced on him, kicking him again. "Leave me alone!" he complained, turning and running away from the cardboard boxes through the makeshift wall of cardboard that Takato had made, and into the street, where cars screeched to a halt at the sight of the cardboard box on his back crossing the road. Renamon narrowed her eyes, watching him leave.

'_Who was he?'_ she pondered. _'He didn't seem interested in fighting or anything…Rika will be interested to hear this…'_

Moments later, there was no evidence that she was ever there.

* * *

Takato frowned, he was late once again to school that morning, and he had been forced to assist in the sports lesson of some of the higher grades instead of doing Art (since the headmaster had required a pupil to do so right when Mrs Asagi was scolding Takato, and of course, she knew exactly how to punish him), who looked at him with a look somewhat of contempt. He seemed to get a lot of that, particularly since, apart from occasional friendliness from pupil, even in his own class he didn't seem to fit in. There just didn't seem to be people similar to him, who he could be friends with, and he had never really become friendly with those in other classes either. Still, he had a digimon now, a lifetime friend who would trust him and do everything he said.

Takato looked on nervously as he saw a cardboard box enter the school.

'_Please tell me I'm imagining things…'_ he thought.

* * *

Rika sat in her class, wearing her dull grey school uniform, bored as ever, watching her teacher lecture about god-knows-what while her snotty fellow pupils continued to talk about her behind her back. She glanced in her pencil case to note Renamon standing behind her, the fox nodding in response.

"_I think I have found something interesting…" _she said through their telepathic link.

* * *

The alarm bell rang, the upper students looking annoyed, and Takato looking worried. The teacher frowned, heading to find out what was going on. Takato glanced to an entrance to the school, and quietly sneaked away from his task. He passed students looking joyful or confused, teachers looking vexed and stresses, and cardboard boxes…

Takato paused, looking down the particular hallway to see a group of students crowded around a cardboard box, and the headmaster looking frail and scared on the floor, something which surprised the goggle-headed boy.

'_He escaped…'_ Takato thought sadly, as he ran to find his partner. "Guilmon…I've got to find him…maybe the cafeteria…" he moaned quietly, but at a level where one person heard him.

Henry Wong, half-Chinese, half-Japanese, wearing an orange jacket, black shirt and brown pants, glanced up at the complete nobody that passed him. "Hmm…" he pondered, before deciding to find out what exactly this kid was talking about. Particularly since people who liked Digimon had become fewer and farther between recently, and the potential for having someone he could play cards with interested him. He followed the kid, quickening his pace slightly to keep up with the distressed boy, before realising that he could probably find another way to outrun him and ducking off down a corridor to one side.

* * *

Takato frowned dejectedly, arriving at the now empty cafeteria. The combination of it and the mouldy bread he had eaten earlier made his stomach churn, as did the fact that he knew Guilmon had done this. He turned, walking sadly outside the school.

"I get a Digimon partner and he doesn't even listen to me…" he moaned.

"Digimon?" asked a voice, and Takato turned to see Henry, looking at him curiously. "A Digimon partner?" he asked, now more surprised.

"Um…no, I'm just crazy, that's all…" Takato replied, faking a smile and running away. Henry watched him go, confused and pondering what the kid could possibly be talking about.

"Hmm…"

* * *

Takato arrived at the only place in the school he knew Guilmon wouldn't have been noticed by now, the roof. He smiled happily despite his tearful expression otherwise, upon seeing the red saurian staring up at the sky curiously.

"Guilmon?" he asked, attracting the dinosaur's attention.

"Takatomon!" the digimon cheered, leaping onto his partner.

"Too…heavy…" Takato complained.

"Sorry…" the dino apologised, Takato smiling after he got off. "What's wrong? Your eyes are leaking…"

"I'm sad, that's all…why did you run away from where I told you to stay?" he asked.

"There was this big yellow fox, and she kicked me…"

"Huh?"_'Must be confusion here…maybe it was a JCB…'_ "Was it a big metal thing, with a bucket on the front with two arms connecting it?"

"No, it was a fox…I think it was a Digimon…"

"Really, another Digimon?" Takato asked enthusiastically.

* * *

"Another Digimon?" Rika asked, a tinge of boredom in her voice. "And you say it looked like a rookie…"

"Yes, and he acted like he didn't want to fight me…" Renamon replied, the pair walking through a quiet street, Rika now wearing her usual attire rather than her school wear.

Rika paused, turning to her partner. "You must be mistaken, all Digimon want to do is fight, isn't that right Renamon?" she asked.

"Yes Rika…"

"Then we'll deal with this one with ease, he won't even put up a fight…"

* * *

"They're called squirrels…" Takato explained as he walked through the park in a grass-sided walkway alongside the dino, who had taken attention in the creatures.

"Can I eat them?" Guilmon asked innocently.

"No, you can only eat what I say you can eat, okay Guilmon?"

"Okay…where are we going?" he asked, as they turned the corner and entered a sports pitch.

"We're going to find you a hiding place so you're happy while I'm at school…this is far too open, we need to find somewhere where…" Takato began, but was interrupted when Guilmon growled, and turned to one side to be kicked in the face, slamming him into the fence behind. "What?" Takato asked, completely confused by what had happened before he panned his eyes to see the source of the attack.

"Sorry to interrupt the moment that you two were having there…" a redhead said, without smiling but with a teasing tone in her voice. Takato's eyes widened.

"Wait…I dreamt you…"

"What?"

"I dreamt you…in a dream…you know, dreaming…"

"This one has his head in the clouds…" Rika noted, turning her glance to her partner. "Well don't just stand there…attack him!" she insisted, looking at the fox which seemed to be distracted by the situation.

Renamon nodded. "As you wish…" she replied, leaping forward and kicking at Guilmon.

"What are you doing?" Takato asked Rika, panic in his voice as Guilmon's eyes narrowed and he began to return the attacks.

"Isn't it obvious?" Rika asked bluntly. "Doesn't your little goggle-brain comprehend anything that's going on?" she exclaimed.

Takato frowned, annoyed by the patronising, as Renamon and Guilmon began to brawl, trading regular blows, Renamon occasionally feeling the pain but Guilmon somehow ignoring it. "Why do you want to fight?"

"It's all that Digimon do, stupid…they fight, they load data, they get stronger and they digivolve, your dino is just my partner's stepping stone…" she taunted, as Renamon leapt into the air.

"But that's…not fair!" Takato complained.

"DIAMOND STORM!" she roared, the diamonds shooting forwards.

"Who said anything about things having to be fair?" Rika replied bluntly, as the diamonds seemed to bounce off the dino. "Renamon, what are you doing?" she asked.

"My attack did not work…" Renamon replied, as she landed.

"Guilmon, why are you fighting?" Takato asked, but got no response from the duelling dino.

Rika frowned, taking out her D-Arc to try and analyse the dino.

"What the hell, there's no data? Either this thing is a piece of junk, or your partner's not real…"

"He's real!" Takato insisted. "I created him…"

"You must be nuts…Renamon, whatever or whoever he is, destroy him…"

"I will need additional assistance…" the fox replied. Rika groaned, taking out a card, as Renamon held back the dinosaur as he tried to tackle her.

"Fine…DIGI-MODIFY…Wind Cannon Activate!" she yelled, annoyed, swiping the card through the digivice while Takato looked on in amazement. The data began to gather around Renamon's hand, and a metallic cannon appeared in on it, which she pointed to Guilmon's head.

"Guilmon!" Takato yelled in fear.

"Do it!" Rika ordered.

"Leave him alone!" Takato ordered angrily, looking to Rika, as Guilmon's markings on his stomach glowed. He glowed red, before pushing Renamon off him, the blast being fired away into the sky and the cannon dissimilating as Guilmon fiercely sunk his teeth into it. Renamon screamed in pain as she flew the teeth did into her skin, and she painfully leapt away, grasping her injured arm afterwards.

"What the hell just happened?!" Rika asked vexed.

"He…got…stronger…" Renamon said in pain, every word hurting as she clutched on to her arm.

"Huh?" Takato asked.

"ROCK BREAKER!" Guilmon roared, leaping forward with his claw at the fox, who was thrown back into a tree, groaning in pain as she fell to the ground.

"Renamon!" Rika yelled angrily. "Get up!"

"She's injured…" Takato noted in surprise as Guilmon advanced on her menacingly, fire creeping at the corners of his mouth.

"PYRO…" he began to roar.

"Guilmon stop!" Takato ordered, breathing a sigh of relief when Guilmon did so.

"Takatomon?" he asked, his feral nature vanishing as he turned and ran over to his partner happily.

"Your pet digimon is a freak!" Rika complained, looking with contempt as they reunited. "Renamon, come on!" she ordered, looking to her partner, who paused in her pain as she looked at the human and Digimon that had attacked her.

'_Hmm…'_ he pondered.

"Attack, now!" Rika ordered, before pausing as she began to hear the sounds of vehicles approaching. She frowned angrily, turning to her partner, who nodded in return. She turned to the goggle-headed boy. "Kid, let me give you a word of advice, run now, because the men in black are coming…" she warned, before looking at his curious expression. "I'm telling you that because next time we meet, your dino is becoming nothing but data for Renamon, and I don't want them getting you before I do…" she replied, running from the battlefield as Renamon vanished.

Takato and Guilmon looked at each other curiously. Takato began to hear the vehicles, and turned, deciding that he should follow her advice as a set of black vans arrived.

"Come on Guilmon…" he said, as they began to run through the park, away from the sound of doors opening.

The agent frowned, watching the figure run away into the park's blackness, partner following. They would catch these people sooner or later.

Henry having watched the events from nearby, frowned. Something was up here, and he would find his answers in that very park. However, he had to go to martial arts lessons first of all, so his curiosity about what he had seen would have to wait, as he turned to walk away

One thing he knew now though that he didn't when he woke up that morning: Digimon were real.

* * *

Takato continued to run, before slowing as he noticed that nothing was following them. "That was a close one…" he noted.

"Who were those Digimon?" Guilmon asked.

"I have no idea…and they were humans, not Digimon…"

"I thought you knew everything Takatomon…"

"Not exactly…" Takato replied. _'I don't know much at all, even less than I thought I did when I woke up this morning…who was that girl, why did she attack us, and what was she doing in my dream?'_

Takato looked around to see where he had ended up. It was a relatively secluded spot on a looping path, with some steps leading up to a utility closet on the grassy verge to one side.

"Hmm…" he pondered, walking up them, and Guilmon following. Takato smiled when he saw the place. It wasn't small (although it also wasn't too large either), and it would easily fit Guilmon. Plus, it was a calm area, and secluded too. "Guilmon, what about this place?"

"Huh? What about it?"

"Are you okay with this being the place where I hide you?"

"Um…" Guilmon pondered, walking forward into it, and looking around, before turning around to face Takato and smiling. "Yeah!" he cheered.

"Great…" Takato replied happily. Things were finally starting to look up for him. "Just, can you stay here from now on rather than running all over the place…"

"What do I do if Renamon attacks?"

"Okay, in that case you can run, but once she's gone, come back here, okay? And stay out of sight, if anyone saw you, you'd probably end up floating in a vat…"

"That sounds like fun!"

"I don't think it would be…"

"Okay Takatomon…"

* * *

Rika lay on her futon in her room, frowning at the ceiling in annoyance. "Renamon…" she called, the fox Digimon soon appearing out of nowhere.

"You called?"

"What the hell was up with you today?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean, you didn't give it your all and you froze up several times!"

"I'm sorry Rika…"

"Sorry just won't cut it Renamon, you've got to fight properly if we're going to become stronger…and you've got to digivolve!" she insisted, standing up and walking out of her room, leaving Renamon watching her do so.

'_Why do I feel that the way she treats me is no longer right?'_ she thought, before dismissing what she had begun to think about. _'That pathetic little Digimon is nothing compared to me…he is treated as a pet and it is disgusting…'_

Renamon recalled the events of the battle, and the sudden surprising burst of strength Guilmon had received after the mark on him glowed.

'_What was that?'_ she thought, but no answers came to mind. _'I will stand by her side regardless of what powers this dino has…_'

Renamon vanished into thin air once again, as silence fell on the house.

* * *

"Guilmon, I brought you bread!" Takato called, arriving back at the hideout with two shopping bags full of the aforementioned food, before gaping at what he saw. "What did you do?" he asked, looking around the now half-destroyed hideout, holes and claw marks in the walls and floor.

"I dug a hole, why?" he asked.

"Why did you dig a hole?"

"Fun…"

Takato chuckled; his partner seemed to enjoy things that were fun more than anything else. He put the bags of bread down. "Here's more bread, I'll see you tomorrow morning…" he told his partner, who began to eat.

"Okay…" Guilmon said between loaves, as Takato smiled, before leaving. He hoped that Guilmon would still be here the next day, but then again.

He dismissed the concept that Rika would end up hunting down his partner as a thing he hoped wouldn't happen.

'_I mean, she wouldn't go that far, would she?'_ he thought. _'And anyway, shouldn't we be a team of Digimon Tamers? I have a feeling this isn't going to end well…'_

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

And so the story begins, and I lay out the foundations for a new plot. As you have noticed, Takato, Henry and Rika are all in this fic, but at the moment Rika and Takato are the only ones with partners.

Takato's outburst of anger isn't going to be a one off, and neither are their battles. The question of being a team also isn't going to be answered anytime soon, and neither are Renamon's questions.

The differences become far clearer as the plot progresses, so keep reading. This will be an eventual Rukato, but there is a fair bit to come before that.

I'll be updating this alongside Dimensions, and it should give me a chance to write in a different way somewhat rather than the really heavy stuff that Dimensions gets into as it progresses.

Please review for this; I really want to find out what people thought of this first chapter, so I know if I'm on the right track with my idea. I've planned out the plot over the whole series, and it differs significantly in places and less so in others.

I'd also like to thank Crazyeight for discussing this idea with me and suggesting a few concepts that will truly come into play later on in the fic.

Next time…

Will Rika and Renamon attack Takato and Guilmon again? Will Henry find out more about the Digimon? Will Guilmon escape again, and will Hypnos catch him if he does?

Find out in 'Wake Up Call', Chapter Two of Deviations.


	2. Wake Up Call

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story (except where stated).

* * *

**DEVIATIONS**

_**Chapter 2**_

_Wake Up Call_

* * *

The sun shone once again down on a beautiful September day as Takato Matsuki, having actually managed to wake up on time that morning in order to deliver bread to a hungry yet sleepy Guilmon, arrived at the playground where he hid his cards within the dinosaur structure. Something had bugged him somewhat, and he decided to check it out, as he entered the structure, pushed his foot into the wall and pushed himself up, grating his lower leg slightly as he performed a move which allowed him to access the dinosaur's concealed upper area.

He smiled upon seeing his card box, but the fact that he now knew it was actually more than simply a card game and TV series made it pale somewhat by comparison. He clasped the edges of the box, taking the lid off to see his collection of cards.

He began to sift through them. Some of the cards were bad, some of them were decidedly average and some of them were so awful that no one would trade for them in a million years. He frowned; his one card truly of value had vanished.

'_Did it just disappear?' _he thought, looking for the blue card with the dino and D-sign insignia on it. _'Great, now I lose things that are really important, next time I'll probably lose Guilmon or my digivice…'_

A modify card caught his eye and reminded him of what he had seen both in his dream and in real life.

"_**DIGI-MODIFY…Wind Cannon Activate!"**_

It was strange, he hadn't paused on it much at the time, far too concentrated on trying to stop Guilmon and Renamon's fight, but now that he thought about it…

'_Maybe…it looks like she used a modify card so…can I use the card slot on my digivice to use cards?'_

He pictured the cannon appearing on Renamon's forearm.

'_And, by the way she used it, it looks like it changes your digimon somehow…'_

Takato pushed a few cards into his back pocket. School was to intervene in any experiments he had planned, but there was still the potential for him to try it out afterwards, particularly if that girl were to attack Guilmon again.

'_Why did she attack him? Does she just want to kill him? Why would she want to do that?'_

"_**It's all that Digimon do, stupid…they fight, they load data, they get stronger and they digivolve, your dino is just my partner's stepping stone…"**_

'_Doesn't she care about Digimon at all?'_ he thought. The concept of losing Guilmon began to boil in his veins. _'I can't let her destroy him…he's my friend…but…I don't want to destroy her Digimon either…what do I do?'_

He glanced at his D-Arc, hopeful of an answer, but all he got was the time. After staring at it for a while, it suddenly struck him that he was late for school again.

'_Great…Mrs Asagi's going to kill me…'_ he thought as he quickly put the lid back on the box, and leapt down from the top area, before breaking into a run.

* * *

Rika stood near the gates of her school, just before the day began. She listened out for the first bell, but she was distracted by talking to her partner.

"Renamon…" she said, her voice vexed but not loud enough for any of the other students to hear. Then again, most of them thought she was crazy or kept their distance anyway, so she had little to worry about on that front as her partner subtly appeared in a tree.

"Yes Rika?"

"After school today, we're going after that Gogglehead and his pet Digimon, got that?"

"Yes Rika…"

"And we're going to win as well…" she added, hearing the first bell and walking into the school, as Renamon nodded.

'_I hope so Rika…'_ she thought, frowning, before vanishing once again.

* * *

Takato sat under a tree, eating his lunch, which, because his parents owned a bakery, consisted mostly of bread, although with a jelly roll as well. He wasn't particularly focused on what else was going on in the playground, instead distracted by thoughts of his partner.

'_I can't exactly take him out in public…'_ he pondered. _'Unless I find a way of doing so without people running for the hills…or the men in black arriving…who were those guys anyway, and what do they want from the Digimon?'_

A shadow began to creep up on him, as he answered that thought.

'_Who am I kidding, Digimon could be a menace, no wonder they want to catch them and us…I know she attacked us, but I don't want her to get captured either…'_

"Are you Takato?" asked a voice, distracting the boy from his thoughts and causing him to look up at a blue haired boy wearing an orange jacket.

"Oh…you again…yeah, it's Takato…" he answered, recalling the events of yesterday and how he had had to make a prompt escape from the questioning from this particular student.

"Mind if I sit down?" the boy asked.

"Go ahead…" Takato replied, as the boy sat down next to him under the tree, before glancing to one side, and putting out his hand in greeting.

"My name's Henry, by the way…"

Takato nodded in response, slightly worried about the line of questioning that he knew he was about to be pursued with. "Hi…" he replied, not as cheerfully as the word implies.

"What was going on yesterday?" Henry asked curiously, before silently cursing his bluntness. He planned to at least make polite conversation before bringing up the point, but his curiosity got the better of him.

"You know as much as I do…" Takato replied, Henry frowning when he got no answers. He decided that he could possibly get somewhere by being more friendly, maybe with a joke.

"The Headmaster is still paranoid about attacks; he locked himself in his office all day to avoid them…"

Takato chuckled at the thought. "Shame he didn't close the school though…"

Henry laughed at the reply, before asking something more. "So I heard you mutter the name 'Guilmon' yesterday, I looked it up, there's no such Digimon…"

"I know…" Takato replied.

Henry cocked an eyebrow, the mystery deepening. He decided to refrain from mentioning the battle he had witnessed, but continued to ask about the previous day. "You said a Digimon partner…"

"Yeah…" Takato replied, fumbling round in his mind for an excuse. "I have an overactive imagination; I pretend that I have a Digimon partner…"

"One that runs away from you?"

"Yeah…well I don't have many friends so…"

"I'll be your friend…" Henry interrupted, the speed of which he then cursed himself for, as it sounded far too over eager and fake, but was accepted nonetheless.

"Really?" Takato asked, seeing the potential for someone who he could show Guilmon.

"Yeah, do you play Digimon cards too?" he asked.

"Yeah…" Takato replied, fumbling around in his pockets and drawing out the modify cards he had put in. "Sorry, I don't have my deck on me…"

"Okay, maybe we could play after school…" Henry replied, his eyes narrowing at the fact that the boy had nothing but modify cards. Why would a kid carry around a bunch of modify cards?

"Great…" Takato replied. "I have to do something first between school and the game though, so you'll have to wait for me…"

"Where do you want to play?" Henry asked, avoiding the questions that would answer his curiosity about what Takato planned to do. Perhaps something involving Guilmon?

"Do you know the playground, in Shinjuku Park, with the dinosaur?"

"Yeah, I know it."

"Great, it'll be good to have a game of cards, haven't played in a while."

"Yeah, fewer Digimon fans now than when it first aired. Nevertheless, don't expect me to go easy on you…"

Takato chuckled. "And vice versa…" he replied, secretly knowing that it was an empty taunt.

"Have you ever played in the tournament?" Henry asked, trying to judge how good of a player this boy was.

"Nah, I'd never even get past the first round, let alone becoming the Digimon King."

"Yeah, but at the moment, it's a girl who's the top player."

"Really?"

"Yeah, they call her the Digimon Queen…"

"Hmm…I wonder where I could find her…" Takato pondered. _'Maybe I could ask for advice on Digimon…'_

"Well, she lives around here, but I don't really think you should just turn up on random people's doorsteps…"

"Yeah, I'd probably get beaten senseless by my mum for that."

"By what I've heard about this girl, she'd beat you senseless on her own."

"Great, so even a girl is better than me…"

Henry chuckled. "You know, it's good to have someone to talk to about this stuff."

"About girls?" Takato asked, confused.

"No, about Digimon" Henry replied, striking Takato dumb about what he had assumed.

"Yeah, it's great…" Takato replied, tinges of doubt in his voice. Sure, before he got Guilmon, he'd have jumped at the chance to have a friend who liked Digimon, but now that he knew that they were real, he really couldn't talk about most of it without telling anyone, and that was risking far too much, particularly if the men in black came after them.

* * *

School had finished and Takato walked to the park, passing along busy streets on the way. He noticed a long series of black vans, an odd occurrence for any city, but these vans held a foreboding worry for Takato.

'_Maybe they're looking for Guilmon…'_ he thought, quickening his pace and breaking into a run, soon reaching the park.

Thoughts and fears filled his head when an empty hideout beckoned.

'_They got him…'_ he thought sadly, looking around the dug-out utility closet. _'I'm the worst Tamer ever…that girl's going to kill me, she wanted to fight Guilmon, and now I've lost him…okay, maybe that's for the better, but what if she goes to the extreme of hunting him down?'_ he thought regretfully, before being interrupted by a beeping on his D-Arc.

He curiously lifted the device to his face, noting the compass which appeared around the screen, an arrow turning until it finally fixed onto a direction.

"What's this?" he asked out loud, before looking to where it pointed. It was out of the hideout, and heading in a direction off to one side of the stone steps downwards. "Maybe it's the way to Guilmon…" he said, tinges of happiness taking tone in his voice as he turned, and began to run, an act that didn't go unnoticed by others in the park.

"Hmm…" Henry noted, sitting underneath the dinosaur and looking at his cards, as he saw Takato run across a junction in paths not far away. He stood up, walking carefully across the playground so as not to attract unwanted attention, and peeked out around a tree to the boy who now stood with the red dinosaur that he had seen yesterday, that he assumed was called Guilmon. The dinosaur had only just appeared, and seemed to be hidden in a bush.

"I win!" cheered the dinosaur, Henry ducking back to take account for the extra pairs of eyes that could now potentially see him.

"You scared me boy…" Takato replied, slight sadness in his voice.

"Sorry Takatomon, I was only playing."

"Yeah, but I thought those men in black had gotten you."

"Can we play again?" he asked.

"Hmm…maybe not at the moment…"

"Aw…can we go explore then Takatomon?" the dino replied, sadness quickly replaced with enthusiasm.

"I said before, it's Takato…" the brunette answered, still slightly peeved at how his partner continued to think he was a Digimon regardless of what he said to the contrary. "And we can't really explore, people will see you…unless…"

* * *

Henry cocked an eyebrow and sweatdropped nervously as he watched Takato walk out in a public area with Guilmon by his side. _'What is he doing?'_

Henry trailed behind, watching carefully their actions but at the same time trying to avoid being sighted by the pair. He quietly noted that Takato hadn't actually headed to the playground straight after finding his partner, but then again, Henry would've probably been noticed upon trying to get there first, and that would require some explaining.

"Mom, mom, look, it's a real digimon!" a child cheered, holding back his mother in order to talk.

"Um…it's a costume…for Halloween…" Takato replied nervously, beginning to have doubts that this was such a good idea. _'If anything gets the men in black after me, this'll be it…'_

"Wow, I've never seen that one before!"

"Yeah, he's called Guilmon."

"Wow, hi Guilmon!"

"Hi…" Guilmon replied dumbly, as the child was dragged on by his parent, Takato waking nervously as they went before breathing a sigh of relief.

'_I can't believe that actually worked…'_ he thought.

'_I can't believe that actually worked…' _Henry thought.

'_Does Takatomon think I'm a costume?'_ Guilmon thought, before beginning to sniff the air, an act which attracted Takato's attention.

"What is it boy?" the brunette asked, an expression of surprise on his face similar to that which Henry now held.

The dino didn't reply, instead running away from Takato in a seemingly random direction.

"Wait up!" Takato called. Henry frowned as he followed, trying to keep up, but keep a safe distance from the pair. He needn't have worried; Takato was far too distracted by Guilmon to consider that someone could be following him.

Henry watched them run into a car park, and stopped, looking carefully around the entrance as Guilmon paused in his run, Takato looking around as he caught up to see the redhead from the previous day and her fox-like partner, who currently faced off with the dinosaur.

"You again…" Takato said, somewhat annoyed by the turn of events.

"You sound so happy to see me…" Rika noted sarcastically, her teasing voice echoing in the underground parking lot.

"I'm telling you now, Guilmon is not fighting her!" Takato insisted.

"Good, makes things all the easier…" Rika replied, turning to her partner. "Attack Renamon!" she ordered, as Renamon leapt forward, dealing a roundhouse kick to Guilmon's face, his eyes still feral.

"Stop!" Takato panicked, as Guilmon leapt up to attack Renamon, throwing his claw forward to be grabbed by the vixen.

"Looks like your partner is fighting regardless of what you say…" Rika mocked.

"PYRO SPHERE!" Guilmon roared, tearing his mouth back and propelling a fireball from it. Renamon leapt aside as the blast collided with and destroyed a car.

'_Oh great, how am I going to pay for that?'_ he thought, before looking to his partner. "Guilmon, stop fighting!" he asked.

"Huh, why?" Guilmon asked in return, his momentary lapse in his feral personality being broken when Renamon leapt at him once again, knocking him to the ground. Guilmon's eyes returned to their feral state, and he dug his teeth into Renamon's arm, a pain that was disturbingly similar for her to what she had experienced the previous day, and, despite her not wanting it to, it sent shivers down her spine.

Renamon shook him off, he roaring in pain for a moment, before turning his gaze back to Renamon who had since become airborne, crossing her arms and preparing her signature move.

"DIAMOND STORM!" Renamon shrieked, the shards flying down and once again bouncing off the dinosaur, as Renamon landed and frowned. Guilmon growled, almost to taunt her. _'How is this guy withstanding my attacks?'_ she thought.

"Do you always need my help Renamon?" Rika asked, her voice vexed and irritated by the turn of events as she drew a card into her hand.

Renamon frowned; Rika's insults had become to actually mean something ever since she had seen how Guilmon and Takato acted together.

"DIGI-MODIFY…Power Activate!" she yelled, as the card ran through the slot and Renamon glowed in response, power coursing through her veins.

'_Modify cards?'_ Henry thought, recalling Takato's pocket full of them earlier that day. _'Is this why he had so many of them?'_

'_She did it again…'_ Takato thought, as Renamon leapt forward and threw Guilmon into a pillar with her increased strength, a part of the roof quaking and falling in on her. She screamed in pain as it ran off her back, before turning to Guilmon, who looked up at her, the feral glare still in his eyes, despite his clear pain.

This dinosaur had become a nuisance, and it was time to put a stop to him. She lifted her fist, body glowing as she prepared to use her secondary 'power paw' move to cause further damage.

Takato frowned angrily, annoyed at how whatever he said, Guilmon wouldn't follow his orders, Rika continued to taunt him and Renamon continued to attack. He glanced to Rika, holding the used modify card in one hand and her D-Arc in the other, watching the battle with a somewhat peeved expression on her face.

"Two can play at that game…" Takato noted, drawing a card from his D-Arc and swiping it. "DIGI-MODIFY…" he called, attracting Rika's attention. "Speed Activate!" he called.

"POWER PAW!" Renamon roared, sweeping herself forward at the dinosaur, who suddenly dodged to one side, leaving Renamon to crash into the ground in pain.

"Renamon!" Rika complained, seeing her partner fall. "Digivolve already!" she added, annoyed. Renamon drew herself to her feet, turning to look at her foe, who growled at her as she crossed her arms, hoping that the close range would increase the effect of her move.

"DIAMOND STORM!" she shrieked.

The range made little difference, the shards ricocheting off Guilmon once again and colliding with pillars, cars and the ceiling. One shard shot towards her partner, and Rika looked on in alarm.

"Look out!" Takato called, leaping across and pushing the pair of them to the ground as the shard hit the wall near Henry, who was distracted by something else at the time.

"Get the hell off me!" Rika complained as she pushed Takato aside and stood up once again.

"Hey, I saved you…you could at least thank me…" Takato complained as he stood up.

"Pah, I was fine on my own…" Rika replied, glaring at him. "Renamon, get this over with!" she called.

The sound of cocking guns distracted them from the battle, as Rika and Takato, along with their partners, Guilmon's feral nature vanishing, turned to see a series of agents wearing black suits, along with a blonde one who seemed to lead them who did the talking. "You are under arrest for harbouring dangerous creatures…" he said menacingly, as the agents stepped forwards.

"Get off me!" Rika complained as she was grabbed, trying to move but to no avail. Henry watched in fear as Takato was similarly grabbed, before they were pulled away.

"Run Guilmon!" Takato yelled to his partner, who looked up to Renamon in fear.

"Rika wishes for me to defeat you…" she said spitefully. "I'm not letting anyone else do so first…" she added, grabbing Guilmon as the pair of them vanished into thin air, surprising Guilmon in the process. The sound of gunfire resounded across the room as the agents attempted to stop them, but it was to no avail.

Yamaki put his hand to an earpiece he wore. "Riley, check for all signs of Digital Activity in this sector, and track them down…" he said angrily.

"No!" Takato complained in alarm, while Rika struggled to escape the grip. These were clearly professionals at their job, as they left her no room to attack.

Yamaki took his hand away from the earpiece. "Take them away…" he ordered spitefully.

Henry frowned, watching and hiding behind a concrete wall as they were dragged into a van.

'_What do I do?'_ he thought, but it was too late, as the vans sped away, leaving him alone to contemplate what had happened.

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

I said that there would be some alterations to the storyline, and this is one of the early ones. Please review.

To clarify, Jeri, Kazu, Kenta and Ryo do not exist in this continuity, but Henry does, as (naturally) does Suzie, although her role is likely to be much reduced. Hence, we see a somewhat different Takato to what we were used to in the show, less surrounded by friends and more yearning for them.

Next time…

Will Takato and Rika manage to escape Hypnos? Will Renamon and Guilmon manage to somehow save their partners? Will Henry be able to do anything?

Find out in 'My Way or the Highway', Chapter Three of Deviations.


	3. My Way or the Highway

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story (except where stated).

* * *

**DEVIATIONS**

_**Chapter 3**_

_My Way or the Highway_

* * *

"This is all your fault you know…" Rika said spitefully as she glared at Takato, sitting on the line of seats opposite her in the van as it drove down unknown roads.

"What? Why?" Takato asked.

"If you had just let Renamon destroy your little pet without any fuss then none of this would've happened…"

"Hey, I'm a Tamer just like you…why did you attack us in the first place?"

"I've told you before Takatomon, if that is really your name…" she told him, teasing him about what his partner called him.

"It's Takato…Guilmon just thinks I'm a digimon for some reason…"

"He's stupid, that's why…like Tamer like Digimon…" Rika mocked.

"But why did you attack us?"

"I told you, Renamon defeats enemy digimon and loads their data to become stronger so we can take down any threat…"

"But in the TV show, the Digidestined were a team…"

"This isn't the TV show you idiot!" Rika replied, irritated by what this boy seemed to assume. "There is no destiny, there is no team, there's just me and Renamon! You have a lot to learn, and I'm going to save you a lot of time by taking away your partner…"

"Looks like you're losing your partner too…" Takato said, taking note of their situation. Rika frowned sadly. "What are you going to do without Renamon?"

"I don't care about her; she just fights for me…"

"That's horrible…"

"I don't care what you think either…" Rika replied spitefully, silencing Takato, who looked sadly down at the bench leading away next to him, before looking up and trying to make conversation again.

"Look, maybe we should start over. I'm Takato Matsuki, what's your name?"

"My name is Rika Nonaka, and from now on you're just the Gogglehead…"

"Huh, why?"

"Because I don't like you, and the sooner I take care of your partner and get you out of my life the better…"

"That's friendly…" Takato said sarcastically.

"Was that supposed to be a joke?" Rika asked, glaring at the boy, who paled in fear as she balled her fist.

"No…" Takato replied fearfully.

"Good…" Rika replied.

"So...do you play the card game?"

"Well duh, I'm the current tournament leader…" she noted.

"Oh, so you're the 'Digimon Queen'?" _'Glad I didn't go to her house in that case, looks like she would've pummelled me to smithereens…'_

Rika frowned and grunted. "I can't stand that title…" she replied. "Given to me by bozos who don't know how to keep their mouth shut…"

Takato frowned, before trying to ask a question. "Can we be friends?"

Rika glared at him. "I only make friends with the best, and no-one is better than or equal to me…" she replied.

"Yikes…you must be lonely though?"

"I have Renamon…" she replied.

"But what if you lose her?"

"Then I don't need anyone…"

Takato frowned; any attempt at trying to talk to her in this situation seemed to be fruitless. He tried to look for some kind of view of where they were, but the windows were blacked out, and the vehicle lit in the back only by a single light-bulb. There was no hope of escaping through the only door, that which they had been loaded in through; it was locked from the outside. Takato sighed; their mystery trip was likely to get worse…

* * *

Renamon reappeared not far from the parking lot, in Shinjuku Park, dropping Guilmon unceremoniously on the ground and glaring at him.

"Thanks…" he said to her, but she ignored him.

"I am going to free my Tamer, I will be back to destroy you…"

"Aww…" Guilmon complained. "Can't we be friends?" he asked. Renamon ignored him, and vanished again, Guilmon frowning afterwards at her disappearance. "Come back!" he called, but to no avail, as he began to sulk. "Takatomon, come back…" he pleaded to no-one in particular.

"Aww, missing your little human?" asked a teasing voice, and Guilmon looked up to a tree to see a purple imp with a red bandana and white face. "You finally get you chance to get away from that, take it!" he ordered.

"But Takatomon is my friend!" Guilmon replied.

"Friend? Pah, what kind of friend leaves you sitting in the middle of a forest?"

"Renamon put me here…" Guilmon replied.

"Another pathetic Digimon, following orders from her master even more than you…at least you sneak off to play hide and seek!"

"Takatomon said that was bad, I'm not going to do it any more…"

"And if Takatomon told ya to jump off a cliff, would ya do it?"

"What's a cliff?"

Impmon groaned. "Smell ya later ya bread scoffing doofus…" he complained, leaping away as Guilmon sniffed the air, his eyes suddenly turning feral.

"I have to save Takatomon!" he decided, running away through the park. Henry cocked an eyebrow from his hiding place behind a tree, glad that the other Digimon didn't see him when he was leaving. He decided to follow Guilmon to see if he could figure out at all what was going on.

* * *

"Let go of me!" Rika ordered to the agent that seemed to have her in a grasp she couldn't break, as they were taken into an elevator.

They had been taken in via the back entrance to the building they now noticed was the Tokyo Metropolitan Building, or just _'those two towers'_in Takato's mind.

"Quiet…" Yamaki scolded, as Rika continued to struggle.

"Let me go!" she yelled again, as they were pushed from the lift as it reached its floor and into a corridor. Takato looked around, the past few minutes had been confusing and disorientating, and it continued to be so as they were escorted along the hallway, attracting attention occasionally from employees, but none of whom dared to ask. They stopped outside a room, and Yamaki held out his hand to Rika.

"Your device…" he ordered menacingly.

"Never…" she replied, before trying to attack the agent that unclipped her D-Arc from her belt, to no avail. Yamaki smirked upon receiving the device, before turning to Takato.

"And yours…" he ordered.

"I don't have one…" Takato replied, knowing that it was underneath his hooded top, and hoped it was unnoticed. Yamaki grunted in annoyance, before turning away.

"Lock them up for the time being until we decide what to do with them…" he ordered to his agents, who nodded and proceeded to push the pair of Tamers into a jail cell, locking the door afterwards.

Rika, alarmed by what was happened, banged on the door with her fists while Takato watched.

"Let me out!" she ordered, before growling as her fists went numb. She, without exclaiming in pain, held the bruise in her other hands and angrily sat down on the seating in the cell.

"Um…are you okay?" Takato asked, noticing that her fists were now bruised and how she was clutching them.

"I'm fine…" Rika replied assertively. "Why didn't he take your D-Arc?" she asked annoyed.

"I hid it under my top…"

"Great, and so our only chance for modifying comes from a useless Digimon…"

"You know, you could be a bit nicer to me, I did save your life…"

Rika growled. "You didn't save my life, your partner endangered us all…what the hell is his problem?"

"What do you mean?"

"Haven't you noticed Gogglehead? He's completely out of control, he doesn't even listen to you in battle and he has random spurts in power…"

"Yeah, but that's not his fault…"

"I don't care…he should be dead by now, there is no way any Digimon could survive a fight with Renamon…without being a complete freak-show…"

Takato frowned, looking at the ground, as Rika stood up, walking over to the handle on the door, but finding the handle to do nothing, and recalling the keyhole being on the other side.

"I'm getting out of here…"

"How?" Takato asked, bewildered by how she intended to do so.

"I'll find a way…" she asserted.

"Maybe we should wait for them to come for us…" Takato asked.

"Are you really that stupid? Lord knows what they'll do to us, they'll take our Digimon…think of all the damage we've caused in battles…"

"I see your point…"

"So you can wait for them to come and get you if you want, but I'm getting out of here…" Rika replied, preparing to attempt to kick the door in. Her foot met its metal frame, and she silently cursed in pain as it didn't even budge, the thick door resisting any attempts to escape. She turned to Takato, staring on in surprise at both her attempts and her pain. "What are you staring at?" she insinuated.

"Um…nothing…just looks like that really hurts that's all."

"Well it doesn't, so stop being an idiotic freak and help me."

"I know for a fact you'd kick my ass with ease, so I don't think I'll be much help, plus that looks like it really hurts…"

Rika groaned at the boy's nervousness, standing back from the door. "Renamon, where the hell are you?" she asked, naturally to no reply.

* * *

Henry frowned after the long walk as he watched Guilmon arrive at the back of the towers of the Tokyo Metropolitan Building, somehow avoiding capture on the way there. Henry put it down to pot luck, he could just as easily have run through somewhere really busy like Akihabara and be captured in a second, or worse, injure someone. Guilmon paused, sniffing the air, before heading forward and smashing a door down, a move that surprised Henry.

'_What is he trying to do?'_ the boy thought, watching as the Digimon went inside, as the realisation came that he really couldn't do anything. Guilmon would be captured within the next few minutes if this was where they took Takato and that girl also, and he didn't want to be involved, particularly since he could just walk away and see if Takato came in to school the next day. But, he wanted to help, rather than feeling that he'd seen one of his friends, regardless of how new a friend it was, be taken and not intervened. He sighed, and turned to walk away.

Chance or no chance, Henry's eye was drawn to a 'diversion' sign on a road, and, despite it being unintentional in its meaning, a thought came to his mind, as he turned back to the towers.

'_Maybe…'_he pondered, considering that there was one thing that he could do.

* * *

The sound of something slamming into the door alerted Rika and Takato and broke the silence that had descended on the chamber.

"Rika…" a voice called through the door.

"Renamon!" Rika replied, standing up and walking to the door. "Break this door down…" she ordered.

"It doesn't move, I will need more power…" she replied.

Rika clutched for her D-Arc, groaning when she noted its absence. "They took my D-Arc; I can't use my cards…"

"Then what should I do?"

Rika frowned, even if Renamon could find her D-Arc, she had no way of giving her it, and she had no cards to use. Plus, she would definitely attract attention when she went to find it. She considered another idea.

"Try to break the lock…" she said, unable to see Renamon nod in response.

"DIAMOND STORM!" echoed through the chamber, the words dulled somewhat by the door. The lock rumbled, but continued to hold fast, and Renamon and Rika both growled in annoyance.

"Try again!" Rika said.

"Someone's coming…" Renamon replied, vanishing into thin air.

"She just appears and disappears, can't she just teleport in here?" Takato asked.

Rika glared at him. "She doesn't teleport, she becomes invisible to anyone but me…she can't walk through walls!" she said to him, vexation in her voice.

"Sorry…just a thought…" Takato muttered. Rika glared at him.

"Tell us how to activate this device…" a stern male voice ordered through the door, along with the sound of plastic touching metal as it sounded like he tapped it on the door.

"Never…" Rika replied.

"Not unless you open the door…" Takato replied, Rika glancing to him. She had to admit, it was a good idea, although she'd never tell him so.

"Pah, then we'll simply break it to get our answers then…" the voice replied, Takato and Rika frowning at the lack of a result.

"How can you keep us here?!" Takato asked, his anger at whoever was keeping them captive growing.

"The Japanese Government is currently dealing with these threats with its agency, Hypnos. You appear to have associated yourself with these threats, and so you will be questioned and arrested for any damage caused in your actions" replied a second male voice.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Takato replied. "You can't do this to Digimon, they're…well…they're cool!" he replied, Rika slapping herself on the forehead at his idiocy.

"Can't you do anything right!" Rika snapped at him.

"What the hell?" the second man said through the door, distracting Rika from her glare at Takato, the man's voice in alarm and panic.

"It's the boy's partner…" the first man replied

"PYRO SPHERE!" resounded through the door, Takato beginning to smile as he realised what was going on.

"Run!" the first man said, as the blast collided with the ceiling above.

"Guilmon!" Takato cheered.

"Where do you think you're going?" Renamon said, stepping out from where she hid behind the wall and grabbing the pair of agents, lifting them off the ground.

"Let us go!" the second man ordered.

"Drop the digivice, then we'll talk…" Renamon ordered. The first man growled, before the sound of plastic clattering on the floor was heard by Rika and Takato, ears now pressed against the door. "Good…" Renamon added, before groaning in pain at an unknown attempt at escaping.

"Run!" the second agent yelled, as the footsteps rapidly faded away.

"Gogglehead, get your dino to attack the lock…" Rika mooted, although it sounded more like an order.

"Right…Guilmon, attack the door handle!" Takato ordered, pausing only to be irritated by the nickname, before putting his ear to the lock.

Rika frowned, stepping back and then dragging Takato by the cuff of his shirt back, before he ended up being roasted by the blast. Renamon watched curiously as Guilmon's blast was prepared, far stronger than its normal level.

"PYRO SPHERE!" Guilmon roared, and the lock exploded, the door swinging open. Takato ran forward to hug his partner.

"Thanks boy…" he said.

In comparison, only a mere glance was had between the redhead and her fox-like partner, as the fox passed Rika her D-Arc.

Guns were cocked, attracting attention from their reunion, as emotional or unemotional it may be, as they turned to see agents pointing guns at them along the corridor.

"Did you really believe you could escape?" Yamaki mocked. Renamon frowned, as Takato panicked and Guilmon looked on somewhat dumbly. Rika sighed at the way things had turned out.

Renamon glanced aside, looking for a way out of this situation, but her ears began to hear a ringing sound as the fire alarms went off, surprising the guards, who looked around in confusion, Yamaki looking around in anger as Renamon pulled them over to a fire escape.

"How did you let them escape?" Yamaki cursed, turning to the agents from before. "You have let a dangerous menace escape onto the streets of Tokyo!" he shouted, the man paling in fear at the head of Hypnos in anger.

* * *

Henry breathed a sigh of relief as he left the bathroom of the ground floor, checking that no-one had seen him activate the fire alarm. The alarms had begun to resound through the building, sending everyone into a state of confusion, so he needn't have worried. He just hoped he'd been able to help, but he couldn't be sure. He quickly joined the stream of people leaving the building, hoping that he'd been out of sight as he exited the building.

Nearby, out of a fire escape, two humans and two Digimon ran, quickly escaping from sight of the building as employees began to line up. Takato breathed a sigh of relief once they reached the park after passing over a bridge, the trees obscuring any views of them, as they began to slow down, Takato stopping to breathe for air.

"We made it…" he said happily. Rika grunted, walking away from the brunette and his dino-like partner. "Aren't you going to celebrate?"

Rika turned around, determination on her face. "Next time we meet Gogglehead, that dino is toast, so me helping you is a one off thing, got that?! I'm not helping you again if they get you!" she yelled.

"Um…okay…" Takato replied.

"Good…" she answered, walking away, Renamon in quick pursuit. She clearly had no interests to be in a team with them, something that saddened Takato.

'_I thought we were working together well…'_ he thought morosely, before turning to his partner. "Thanks for rescuing us…" he said, his partner nodding.

"I'll do anything for Takatomon!" the saurian replied happily.

"Then could you do me one thing…"

"Huh?"

"Could you start listening to me?" Takato asked in desperation.

"When didn't I?"

"When in battle, your eyes go all weird, and you just stop listening to anything I say…"

"Do I?"

"Yeah, and I really need you to listen to me so people don't get hurt…"

"Okay Takatomon…" the dino replied, leaving Takato unsure whether his request had actually been noted or if the next battle would be just as feral. They began to walk back to the hideout, thankfully passing few people as the orange light of the encroaching evening began to arrive. Takato turned to his partner, trying to stop another habit.

"And one other thing…"

"What?" Guilmon asked cheerfully.

"Can you stop calling me Takatomon?"

"I thought you were Takatomon?"

"No, I'm a human being, not a Digimon…"

"So?"

"Humans don't have 'mon' on the end of their names…"

"Really, why not?"

"Because we just don't…" Takato replied.

"Oh…okay Takatomon…" he replied, Takato groaning in frustration. This problem wasn't going away, and neither were any of his other problems. A question plagued his curiosity, as he looked back into the dino's eyes.

"How did you get in there anyway?"

"Huh? I ran up some stairs…"

"Did anyone see you?"

"Yeah, why?"

Takato groaned; Guilmon completely lacked any knowledge of subtlety. "Never mind…" he replied, frustrated. "You're going to have to be more careful though; you can't let other people see you..." he explained.

"Okay Takatomon, I'll stay hidden from now on…"

"We'll need to be more careful, Rika and Renamon will probably lure us into a battle again…"

"Who's Rikamon?"

"That girl with the red hair…and she's not a Digimon either…"

"Okay Takatomon…I'll be more careful…"

"Good…" the brunette replied, as they reached the hideout, and Guilmon entered. "I've got to go home now, I'll see you tomorrow…I'll bring bread too…"

"Yay! Bye!" Guilmon cheered, waving to his partner with his claw, Takato waving slightly in response as he walked away, heading through the emptying park and passing the playground.

'_Damn, I completely missed Henry out on his card game…'_ he realised, the sight of the dinosaur reminding him. He slapped himself on the head for what he had inadvertently done. _'I hope he's not too mad, I really messed up that chance to have a friend who actually likes Digimon…'_

* * *

"Hmm…" Henry pondered, arriving back at his home. The day had been surreal, first of all he had seen a Digimon battle, and then he had seen the government taking action. He'd set off a fire alarm in a government building, an act he had begun to regret, and he hoped there wouldn't be serious repercussions later on, as his sister walked up to him.

"Hey Henwy!" Suzie greeted, hugging a plush toy.

"Hey Suzie…" he replied, lacking any enthusiasm in his voice.

"What's wong?"

"Nothing…"_'…except everything…I have to go and find out more about this Digimon stuff from Takato tomorrow…'_

---

Rika groaned; stepping into her house, Renamon hidden from view as her grandma greeted her.

"Good evening dear…" Seiko said, smiling from the kitchen, and noticing her down mood. "Anything the matter?"

"No, nothing…" Rika replied. She stopped short at being rude to her grandma, although was rarely open with her about anything. Her mother, on the other hand, was a completely different story. Rika walked down the hallway, stepping into her room and falling onto her futon, groaning.

"Stupid Gogglehead…"

"Are you okay Rika?" Renamon asked, appearing from nowhere.

Rika frowned. "Of course…tomorrow's just another day to go Guilmon hunting…"

Renamon frowned, clearly Rika didn't care for Takato saving her life, from the fox's own attack of all things (something she cursed herself for, even though it was unintentional), and for Guilmon freeing them from the cell.

Time would tell if she would ever manage to call them 'teammates', or whether she would kill the pair of them first.

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

And so a diversion (or rather, a deviation, see what I did there) from the original storyline takes place. Hypnos' act will have repercussions later, as will the events of their battles and escaping. Please review.

Next time…

Will Rika and Renamon be able to destroy Guilmon? Will Hypnos continue to pursue the Tamers? Will Henry manage to find out anything more about them?

Find out in 'I Hate Cute', Chapter Four of Deviations.


	4. I Hate Cute

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story (except where stated).

* * *

**DEVIATIONS**

_**Chapter 4**_

_I Hate Cute_

* * *

The sun once again dawned on Shinjuku Ward and lit up those going to work, to school, and those who'd rather not be doing so.

Although this day would turn out to be somewhat different to others.

"What the…?" Takato began, staring on at the strange sight that had gathered all the students and teachers, something Takato was thankful for because he was later.

"Were you going to swear Takato?" Mrs Asagi interrupted, stepping towards him.

"No ma'am…" Takato replied quickly and nervously. "What caused this?" he asked, looking out at the random assortment of chalk lines that had replaced the normal cleanly marked out soccer pitch of the school, the line drawing equipment left on its side with the shed un-padlocked nearby.

"The principal has no clues, it better not have been you Takato…" Mrs Asagi warned, looking into the brunette's eyes, something which worried the boy.

"Why would I do it?" Takato asked gallingly, although he had an inkling that a certain red dino that enjoyed escaping the park could be involved. He frowned, hoping that wasn't the case. Guilmon seemed to have a nasty habit of getting in trouble. He only hoped that Rika hadn't taken the day off school to hunt him down.

"Well whoever did it is going to be in a lot of trouble…" Mrs Asagi noted, walking away.

"Late again?" asked a voice, and Takato panicked, turning around to see…

"Henry, thank goodness…I thought it was the principal or something, I thought I was in big trouble…"

'_At least he's alive, I though Hypnos was going to make him 'vanish'…'_ Henry thought, knowing that it was only a half joke.

"So do we have class or what?" Takato asked.

"Why would they close the school because of some lines on the soccer pitch?"

"With the way the principal's been acting, I hoped he might put it down to aliens…" Takato joked. Henry chuckled.

"Wouldn't put it past him…"

* * *

Guilmon sat patiently, tail moving up and down occasionally, inside the hideout, looking out of the opening at the occasional people who walked past, but looking for one person in particular.

"What are you waiting for?" asked a voice, and Guilmon turned to see a small white digimon with purple-rimmed ears, looking curiously at him.

"I'm waiting for Takatomon to return so we can have fun!"

"That's silly; I have fun without needing a Takatomon!" Calumon cheered, leaping up and down happily.

"Takatomon's a person..." Guilmon replied.

"Really? What's a person?"

"I have no idea…" Guilmon replied.

"You're funny…what's your name?" Calumon asked.

"Guilmon, what's yours?"

"Calumon!" Calumon cheered, literally leaping up and down several feet by now, a movement that was beginning to make the dinosaur dizzy.

"Neat…" Guilmon replied. "Do you want to play?" he asked.

"Yeah, we can go and jump in the fountain!" Calumon cheered.

"I'm not allowed to leave this box thingy…"

"Aw…not even for me?" Calumon asked, eyes widening, a move that some would call cute (and others, such as one particular redhead, would reply that they hate that sort of stuff). Ironically, the move that Calumon used to get others to do what he wanted, albeit an unintentional tactic in most cases, failed to work on Guilmon.

"No…"

"Aww, you're no fun…"

"I can be fun!" Guilmon cheered, as Calumon flew away, continuing on his cute rampage through the city, confusing those who kissed by suggesting how they could eat each other, and being confused by the simplest of concepts, for example, the revolving door.

"What do ya wanna be fun for?" asked the teasing voice from the previous day, and Guilmon looked up as Impmon dropped down from the roof in front of him. "Fun with him ain't no fun, real fun involves BADA BOOM with Impmon!" he joked, throwing a small fireball at Guilmon's snout.

"Owie…" Guilmon complained.

"Aww, whatta matter, did I hurt ya? Ya big dumb-ass cry-baby…"

"Yeah, you did…that wasn't very nice…"

"I don't care…" Impmon replied, turning away. "You're not much fun anyway, you and your Tamer…I'm going to chase the white blob thingy and load his data!" he decided, running away from Guilmon.

"Come back!" Guilmon called, but it was too late. "Aw…Guilmon bored again…"

* * *

"I'm sorry but the school playground is off-limits for the whole of lunchtime…" Mrs Asagi apologised, in a completely unapologetic way, as she blocked the main exit from the school building. Her words were greeted with a multitude of moans, at the concept of having to stay inside for the next hour. The lunch hall was normally packed as it was, let alone with more people in it.

"Why?" Takato asked curiously, as the other children strolled away, leaving just him and Mrs Asagi.

"Apparently the school headmaster thinks that this is something to do with aliens, and he contacted the police, who sent a bunch of operatives of some government agency round…some days I think the world has gone nuts…" she moaned.

"So you don't think it's anything major then?"

"Probably just some kids playing a prank; it better not be you Takato…"

"Again, why would I do such a thing?"

Mrs Asagi sighed. "Run along Takato…" she told him, exasperated, as she took two headache pills. Takato nodded nervously, before walking away down the corridor.

"Hey Takato…" a voice sounded from a hallway off to the side, attracting Takato's attention to the now-familiar form of his friend Henry, although he wondered if he even had a chance of being friends with the boy after he didn't turn up to their game the previous day.

'_Mrs Asagi's right, I am antisocial…'_ he thought as he greeted the boy. "Hey Henry…"

Henry was distracted by something as he peered out of the window, Takato arriving to see a large group of black-suited operatives standing around looking at the lines. They looked all too familiar, and they were led once again by the strange blonde man from the previous day.

"Who are they?" Takato asked, knowing that he knew more about them. If they thought this was related to Digimon then…well, the thought made Takato's stomach churn, and his yearning to see his partner again after school increased.

"No idea…they seem to be looking at the lines and using strange scanners on them…"

"Wow…" Takato said. "Oh, by the way, sorry for missing our game yesterday…" he noted, looking across to Henry.

"Get down!" Henry said, the pair ducking just in time as the blonde's vision swept across them. They ducked below the windowsill, Takato keeping low in particular. The concept of being spotted after his escape yesterday was risky. Then again, so was Henry's risk if they had spotted him on any security cameras, although he hadn't seen any on the particular one he'd used. They continued their conversation in their ducked position. "Don't worry about that, but where were you anyway?"

"Um…I had…to help out at my family bakery!" Takato replied, noting afterward that he should've been a bit less enthusiastic in tone in his response.

"Uh-huh…" Henry replied, knowing that it was clearly a lie. Even if he didn't know about where Takato really was, he'd believe it was a lie. "So do you want to have that game this evening then?"

"Yeah, that'd be great…" _'Although Guilmon really was looking forward to playing with me…I suppose we can do something afterwards, I do owe Henry a game now at least…'_

"Great…" Henry replied. "Same place?"

"Yeah, I have to do something first, then I'll be right there, okay?"

"Sure…"_'What exactly does he do? Does he just go to see his Digimon? And how did he get a Digimon?'_

Henry peeked over the top of the window-sill again, noticing the crowd of agents now beginning to leave.

"They're going…" Henry said, attracting Takato's attention to look over the windowsill, noticing their headmaster talking to the blonde, almost pleadingly. The blonde seemed to dismiss him, and walked away.

"Geez, the principal has gone nuts…" Takato noted.

"Yeah, looks like he wants them to stay and protect this place…"

"Should I ask?" came a voice from behind, Takato and Henry turning to see Mrs Asagi watching them where they were crouched behind the windowsill, arms crossed and an exasperated look on her face.

"No, it'd be better if you didn't…" Takato replied, Henry nudging him in the stomach. "I mean, it's nothing ma'am…"

Mrs Asagi sighed, Takato seemed to have a habit of talking to teachers in a way that he just shouldn't. Not as bad as some, but he still seemed to think too much after he's said something than beforehand. Plus, the way he said ma'am made her sound old. "Go away Takato…" she told him, and he took the chance straight away to dive off along the corridor, Henry following.

"You really know how to get people on your good side eh Takato?" Henry asked when they were out of sight.

"Meh, I think she just has a grudge on me…" Takato replied.

* * *

"So I'll meet you back at the dinosaur after I've…"_'…gone to see a dinosaur…'_ "…done what I have to do, okay?" Takato asked.

"Sure, it'll give me time to do Mr Mori's homework and have this whole weekend off" Henry replied, as the pair exited the school gates.

"You're lucky; your teacher doesn't give you as much homework."

"Yeah, he's too busy fawning over Mrs Asagi…" Henry joked, Takato laughing in response.

"I think she just sets us homework to relieve her stress…she'd set us it at the weekend if she could…"

Calumon watched from a tree. "What's homework?" he asked no-one in particular. "Is it fun?"

No one replied, and he began to here the sound of a game of soccer being played on the school playground. He watched the game, imagining himself playing, while a purple Imp arrived, gasping for air.

"God you move fast…" he noted, before noticing that, as a rarity, Calumon's attention wasn't on him. "Wat'cha doing?"

"Watching them play, and playing along too!" Calumon said happily.

"How?" Impmon asked, before looking back to the game. "Geez, humans are stupid. What the hell are they doing?"

"I have no idea but it looks fun!"

"See ya later bozo, enjoy your game!" Impmon taunted, leaping away and leaving the fairy-like Digimon to watch the game.

As the players left the pitch, Calumon noticed something that irritated him, although not for long.

"Aw, the games over…hey, they rubbed out my lines…" he complained, leaping down and running across to the shed. "I'll make new ones then! And I'll win the games every time!" he cheered.

* * *

"And that makes 21 games to 3…" Henry declared as the sun finally set, prompting the pair packing their cards away. Takato groaned, falling back. "Looking forward to more wins at the weekend…"

"Even with a real Digimon I'm still rubbish…" Takato muttered.

"Pardon?" Henry asked, hearing but wanting to see if this was his chance to learn more.

"Nothing…" Takato replied. "Do you want to play at the weekend?" he asked, sitting up.

"Sure, see you here about 10 o'clock?" Henry asked.

"Do you mind if I turn up a bit later, I have to feed the rabbits at the school first? Say 11 o'clock?" Takato asked, not actually lying this time round. Mrs Asagi enjoyed continually punishing him it seemed, all he seemed to do was fail to do his homework, or turn up late. What was wrong with that?

"Sure, see you then…" Henry replied, standing up and walking away, taking his cards with him. Takato sighed, although it had been fun to play cards and casually chat with someone, he'd missed an entire evening of being able to play with Guilmon. He decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but he decided to see Guilmon before he had to get home. His mother would freak soon enough that aliens or kidnappers had taken him, so he'd also have to make it abrupt.

* * *

The yellow orb rose over the new day, and soon enough, the goggle-headed brunette was to be found enjoying his Saturday by….heading to school.

It wasn't like that one time when Mrs Asagi made him come to school on a weekend as a punishment, but it wasn't exactly enjoyment either, although it wasn't hard work to feed the rabbits. Still, the boy had his red dino-like partner by his side, and the streets were pretty much empty, any problems being met by the 'Halloween costume' excuse. He wished he could use that on Henry in order to save him a lot of trouble juggling human and Digital Friends, but it only really worked on momentary encounters with young children, who believed anything, or adults, who couldn't care less. At the moment, however, most people were taking the Saturday morning as a chance to lie in after a long day of work, an opportunity Takato would've once taken until he met his partner, and was forced to feed the rabbits.

Some people weren't lying in though.

"I told you the aliens are back again!" the headmaster insisted, as Takato and Guilmon rounded the corner, standing back upon seeing the teachers.

"I think you may need to see a psychiatrist sir…" the other man, a teacher of one of the upper classes, replied.

"But you can see the lines too, can't you?"

Takato gasped upon seeing the new lines, which filled up pretty much the whole of the playground, far more than the previous day.

"Yeah, but it's probably just some kids messing around…"

"I should call Hypnos again…" the principal muttered.

'_Hmm…is he talking about those guys yesterday and the guys who kidnapped Rika and me?'_

"Anyway, just try to enjoy your Saturday sir, and please see a psychiatrist…" the other teacher said as they walked past Takato, who ducked against the wall, pushing Guilmon back by his nose to match.

"Takatomon, that hurt…" Guilmon complained, rubbing his sore nose.

"Sorry boy…"

He breathed a sigh of relief when they didn't turn round, and headed to feed the rabbits.

'_Thinking of Rika, where has she been? She said she was going to get Guilmon, but she didn't turn up at all yesterday…maybe she's become more friendly…maybe pigs can fly…'_

The food tipped into the tray, as the animals began to eat, Takato having to remind Guilmon not to eat the food himself.

"I can't eat rabbits, can I?" Guilmon asked.

"No…" Takato replied. _'Now that would get me in trouble!'_ he thought. Guilmon became distracted from the rabbit he was sniffing through the bars of the cage as he began to sniff the air.

"Hey, I smell a Digimon…" he said, running off to one side.

"Really?" Takato asked, following his partner. _'It better not be Renamon again…'_

"In here Takatomon!" Guilmon said, a little too loudly and waking whatever was sleeping in the fallen-over garbage can as the bin liner began to ruffle, Takato looking on nervously.

"Hey, new friends!" Calumon cheered, leaping from sleeping to being fully awake without the usual step of grogginess in-between. "Yay!" he cheered, leaping around the pair, before coming to rest on Guilmon's head. Guilmon looked up curiously, as Calumon tugged on his ears. "Go horsey go!" he cheered.

"Takatomon, Calumon's hurting me!" Guilmon complained to his partner.

"Huh? How do you know his name?"

"I saw him yesterday…"

"You didn't get out again, did you?"

"No, he came to the hideout until a purple thing scared him away…"

'_Huh? What could that possibly be?'_ Takato thought, trying to figure out what Guilmon could've seen that he didn't know the name of. "What was it?"

"He said his name was Impmon…" Guilmon replied.

"A Digimon?"

"Yeah…"

"They're popping up everywhere…" Takato noted.

"Impmon's a meanie…" Calumon complained, covering his eyes with Guilmon's ears.

"Ow, that hurts even more…" Guilmon complained.

"Let's play!" Calumon cheered, his fear and complaint about the purple imp vanishing instantly.

"Maybe this guy needs a Tamer…" Takato pondered. _'Would give me some backup against Rika…'_ he thought.

"A Tamer?" Calumon asked, tugging on the corner of his mouth cutely.

"Yeah, you know, a human partner…"

"To play with?"

"Yeah, and to fight alongside…"

"Fighting?" Calumon asked. "I don't like the sound of that…" he added, bouncing away.

"Come back!" Takato called, frowning as the white fairy vanished from sight. _'Great, I screwed up again with making a friend. Is it just me or is it only Renamon and Rika who want to fight at all?'_

Guilmon frowned, as did his partner. "He got away…" Guilmon complained.

"Don't worry boy, I'm sure he'll turn up again…maybe he'll find a partner before then…" _'Not sure who, he seems a bit much to handle…'_

* * *

Henry strolled through the park, heading towards the dinosaur. It was quiet, as always, and the questions about Takato and Digimon still plagued his mind, but with a new question.

Some internet research he'd done had told him that the Digimon Queen they had mentioned was the same girl he had seen with the Renamon for a partner. He realised the irony that if Takato had actually gone to see her, he'd have found this out, and by what he knew of her personality, would probably end up knocked out.

Henry sat down inside the dinosaur structure, taking out his deck and beginning to look at his cards.

Whether Takato would actually need to open his mouth or not first was another question. In all likelihood, he'd only make things worse, particularly if he were to speak in the same way that he did to Mrs Asagi.

He noted the lack of the redhead the previous day, and wondered if Takato was the only one to escape the building, along with his partner of course. Then again, Takato wasn't exactly the kind who wouldn't be affected by that, and he seemed his normal, cheerful, goofy self the previous few days. Then again, he'd only been friends with Takato for those few days, and he couldn't be sure on what he was like before that.

"Hi!"

The voice interrupted Henry, who recoiled back in surprise as he looked up to see a white fairy-like thing with purple tipped ears.

"Waah!" he exclaimed in surprise.

Calumon laughed. "That was a funny noise…"

"Are you a Digimon?" Henry asked, his voice heightened from his surprise.

"Yeah…" Calumon replied, before going into curiosity mode. "Are you?"

"No, I'm a human…"

"Really?"

"Yeah…my name's Henry…what's yours?"

"Calumon Calumon Calumon!" Calumon cheered.

"Calumon, Calumon, Calumon?" Henry inquired, not entirely sure what he was meant to get from it.

"No, just Calumon, but I'm really happy!"

"Why?"

"Because I just found a new friend!" he cheered.

"A friend?"

"Yeah! Let's play!"

'_This is getting very surreal…'_ Henry chuckled. _'He's like a hyperactive version of Takato…'_ he added. "What do you mean, play?"

"Run around, play tag, do silly things!"

"But you're a Digimon, right?"

"Yeah! Why?"

"A real live Digimon?"

"What's your point?"

"Henry?" asked a confused voice, as Henry glanced up to see Takato, sans-partner at the moment. He presumed that Takato had returned Guilmon to…wherever he had hidden him, a location he was hoping to find out about soon. "It's Calumon!" Takato exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know…" Henry replied, noticing that at some point Calumon had jumped onto his head, and was now flailing his ears about wildly. Henry's eyes narrowed. "How do you know?"

"I've…seen his card before…" Takato replied, making up an answer.

"I've never heard of him…"

"Never heard of me? Aw, that's sad…" Calumon told him.

"Geez, this guy is the epitome of cute, isn't he?" Henry noted, taking the fairy off of his head.

"Yeah…"

"I'm surprised Takato, I'd think you of all people would've freaked out about seeing a real Digimon by now…"

"Oh…yeah…waah!" Takato faked, sounding unconvincing to the point where even Calumon wouldn't believe him.

"That wasn't very convincing…" Henry noted.

"Okay, then maybe I bumped into him before then…"

"Maybe?"

"Does it matter Henry? It's a real, live Digimon! It's so cool!"

"What do we do with him?" Henry asked, ignoring that he already knew Takato's 'secret' for now, and hence he knew why Takato was lying repeatedly.

"I have no idea…"

"Let's play!" Calumon cheered, leaping up and down.

"Play?" Takato asked.

"Yeah Takato, where's Guilmon? He was with you a moment ago?" Calumon asked.

"I have no idea what you're talking about…" Takato replied.

"How does he know the name of your imaginary Digimon then?" Henry asked.

"Um…I mentioned him when I was surprised at seeing a real Digimon…" Takato replied.

"No, he was right by you! A big red dinosaur!" Calumon cheered, jumping up and down in front of Takato. Takato grabbed him and covered his mouth with his hand, laughing nervously.

Henry sweatdropped, Takato really wasn't good at covering anything up. However, he didn't want to ruin his chance of finding out more about the Digimon, so he decided not to point it out for now. "Maybe there's more Digimon?" Henry suggested.

"Yeah, maybe…maybe we'll both get partners!"

"What, and Calumon couldn't be a partner?"

"I mentioned it to him; he said he hates fighting…"

"I do…why fight when you can play?!" Calumon cheered, leaping out of Takato's hands once again. "Come on!" he cheered, running away.

"I'll get him!" Takato said, chasing after while Henry sweatdropped.

'_They're both nuts…'_ he thought. _'Why's Takato hiding Guilmon from me still, I'd think that once I knew that Digimon are real he'd tell me?'_ he thought, concerned.

* * *

"Calumon, this is where I hide Guilmon, you can stay here and play with him, but he's not allowed to leave this place, okay?" Takato replied, putting a now captured Calumon down on the floor of the hideout.

"Okay…yay, we can play!" he cheered, leaping onto Guilmon's head and yanking his ears again, Guilmon moaning about the pain.

"Have fun you two…" Takato noted, walking away. "I'll be back later Guilmon; I'm going to play cards with Henry…"

"Okay…" Guilmon replied, waving to his partner as he walked away.

* * *

"He got away…" Takato said, faking exasperation.

"Don't worry, by the sounds of it, he'll be back soon enough…" Henry reassured.

"Right. Now, for our game…" Takato said, sitting down opposite Henry.

Henry lay out his cards in the correct positions for playing, while Takato did likewise. They began the game, idle chat beginning at the same time.

"So where do you think Calumon came from anyway?" Henry asked.

Takato shook his head, not looking up from his study of his hand in order to not give away that he was lying. "No idea…"

"You do realise that this changes everything?"

"Why?"

"If Digimon are real, then that means that there could be more of them. People could have Digimon partners…they'd be sorta like Digidestined…"

"Maybe, although when I was imagining Guilmon I preferred the name Tamer…"

"Hmm…"

* * *

"Let's go Guilmon!" Calumon cheered.

"But I'm not allowed to leave the hideout…" Guilmon replied.

"Aw, that's no fun…"

"I'm only allowed to leave with Takato or if Renamon attacks…"

"So what if Renamon were attacking?"

"But she's not…"

"Look, she's over there!" Calumon cheered, pointing.

"Where?" Guilmon asked, looking out. "There's nothing there!" he replied.

"You can't be sure of that!" Calumon cheered. "Come on, let's go…"

"Okay then…"

* * *

"Oh man, they're gone!" Takato complained, arriving in the hideout after the sun had almost completely set, their games ending only a short while prior. "I told him never to go…he never listens to me…what if Hypnos got him? Or Rika?" he pondered in growing alarm, before his D-Arc began bleeping, and he took it out, noticing the compass once again. "Maybe I can find him, or whatever this thing is taking me to…" he noted, before leaving the hideout.

Henry walked around the park, looking for some sign of Calumon or of Guilmon's hiding place before he had to return home for dinner, but to no avail. His eye caught on to a flash of blue, and he quickly pursued, taking his distance.

'_I'm going to get sick of doing this…god he can run fast…why is he ever late for school?'_

* * *

"Wow, pretty fountain!" Calumon cheered, his evening of line drawing fun with Guilmon interrupted by what Rika would identify as a light show and a fog which data for Renamon to absorb came out of, and what Hypnos would identify as a Digital Field which 'wild ones' came out of.

"Looks pretty weird to me…" Guilmon noted, as the fog descended.

"Guilmon!" called an anxious voice through the fog, and Guilmon turned, running over to and jumping on his tamer.

"Takatomon!" he cheered happily.

"Once…again…get…off…too…heavy…" Takato complained, as Guilmon got up.

"Hi!" he cheered.

Meanwhile, Henry frowned. His attempts to pursue Takato had been hindered by this fog, which he daren't enter in case Takato saw him. He hid behind a wall, hoping that the fog would die down soon.

"Guilmon, you ignored me again!" Takato scolded.

"But Calumon said that Renamon was attacking!" Guilmon replied.

"I had to pretend that she was, you weren't leaving otherwise!" Calumon cheered, not noticing the severity of Takato and Guilmon's voices.

"What are these hideous creatures?" a voice said, and Takato, Calumon and Guilmon turned to see a small ugly greyish Digimon that looked like an odd cross of a bat and a goblin.

"A new friend!" Calumon cheered, leaping over to the digimon from his place on Guilmon's head.

"Stay back hideous creature, and fear my wrath!" the creature warned.

"You're not very friendly…" Calumon complained, as the creature slammed his hand into the fairy, throwing him aside. "Ow…" Calumon moaned as he landed.

"Hey, what did you do that for?" Takato asked, looking at the digimon in anger, and running over to pick up Calumon into his arms.

"I am Vilemon and I will destroy you!" he declared.

"Attack!" Guilmon yelled, leaping forward and tackling the digimon.

"Guilmon!" Takato yelled. _'He's doing it again…'_ he thought sadly, as he took out his D-Arc, looking at its screen. Guilmon had by now turned around to face him, hearing his orders.

"Yes Takatomon?" he asked.

Takato smiled. "Good, you're listening to me…"

"Should I fight him?"

"Hmm…"_'He did attack us…and I don't think he's going to be very friendly…'_ "Yeah, go give it your best shot!"

"Okay Takatomon!" Guilmon cheered, turning around and racing towards the foe. Takato now noticed that his D-Arc was displaying something, in this case Guilmon's vision overlaid with details of the enemy.

"Wow, this is so cool…let's see, Vilemon, Virus Type, Champion Level, his attacks are Nightmare Shocker and Demon Darts…"

"NIGHTMARE SHOCKER!" Vilemon yelled, an energy wave hitting Guilmon who fell back.

"Owie…" he complained. "That was a lot for a short guy…"

"I'm not short; I'm just overdue for a growth spurt!"

"Need any help?" Takato asked his partner, unknowing that by now, Henry could see him and the battle.

"Yeah…" a dizzy Guilmon replied.

"Right…let's see…" Takato replied, fumbling through his cards. "Here goes nothing…DIGI-MODIFY…Targeting Activate!"

Guilmon's vision became refined on his opponent, and he aimed. "PYRO SPHERE!" he roared, the fireball propelled from his mouth and colliding with Vilemon, who groaned in pain and fell to the ground.

"It worked!" Takato cheered, before noticing whimpering. He looked down into his arms to see Calumon, fearful of the battle.

"Why are they fighting?" he asked.

"ROCK BREAKER!" Guilmon roared, slashing through Vilemon with his claws, breaking the foul beast into data, which he instinctively prepared to absorb.

"Guilmon, don't absorb it!" Takato yelled, causing Guilmon to turn around in confusion.

"Why not?"

Takato had now turned somewhat emotional, his eyes tearful at how he had seen Calumon react, and his mistake. "If you do that, we're just as bad as Rika and Renamon…"

"Oh, okay!" Guilmon cheered, stopping.

"If you won't take it then Renamon will!" said a new voice, Rika stepping forward as Renamon leapt into the air, drawing Vilemon's data into her.

"Aw nuts…" Takato complained. "I didn't mean you were bad, I just…"

"I don't care what you think…" Rika replied spitefully, as Renamon landed. "Time for round three…" she declared. "Renamon, attack!" she ordered.

"Hello!" Calumon cheered, leaping onto Rika's face. Takato noticed that he had escaped from his arms at some point.

"Get off!" Rika said, pulling the giggling being off of her face. Renamon watched with confusion and bemusement, was she meant to be attacking or what?

"Yay! I'm Calumon!" Calumon cheered, landing on the ground.

"Pathetic lump of data…" Rika cursed, kicking him aside, he moaning in pain.

"Ow…" Calumon complained, rubbing his head.

"I hate cute…" Rika muttered.

"Hey, what did you do that for?" Guilmon asked.

"Data?" Takato asked, anger in his voice. "You kill living creatures for no reason but just to make you stronger! You're horrible!"

"Did I ask for your opinion? Digimon are simply nothing more than data…not living things, not friends, just data…"

"I am getting sick of you…you do the most horrible things and you don't even resent what you've done…you don't even care about your partner…isn't she even your friend?" Takato asked angrily.

Rika's mouth turned into a thin line, as Renamon looked to her, eager to find out how she would respond, particularly to the last bit.

"Congratulations Gogglehead…for trying to stick up to me, you're off the list of enemies I think twice about before attacking, which means that list is now blank…" Rika replied spitefully.

"Huh?" Takato asked, confused. _'She thought twice about attacking me?'_

"Next time Renamon finds Guilmon, she is attacking without warning, got that?"

"Hey, that's not fair!" Takato complained.

Rika smirked. "See you later losers…" she replied, turning and walking away, Renamon quickly following.

Takato frowned, watching her walk away. "Can't we be friends?" he called out, but to no response except for the one finger treatment.

"Takatomon, what does that mean?" Guilmon asked curiously.

Takato groaned, not giving a response. None of his problems were getting any easier. He noticed Calumon running away.

"Hey, where are you going?" Guilmon asked.

"I'm going to find somewhere where no-one's fighting or arguing or hitting me in the head!"

"But that's with us! You're safe with us!" Takato said.

"Not from what I've seen!"

Takato frowned; Calumon was gone from sight now, and it had become a futile cause. He turned to Guilmon.

"We're going to have to be a lot more careful from now on…" he noted. Guilmon frowned, and Takato matched his expression, as they began to trudge away back to the playground entrance.

Henry realised he had to move before they saw him, and began to run away.

'_Looks like I'm not going to get any answers any time soon…and I keep getting more questions…'_ he thought morosely.

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

A slightly different version of 'Dream A Little Dream', the plot not working the same way without Takato not knowing about Henry knowing about Digimon. Please review.

Next time…

Will Renamon attack Guilmon again without warning? Will Rika stop treating Digimon as data? Will Henry get any answers to his questions?

Find out in 'The Partner Puzzle', Chapter Five of Deviations.


	5. The Partner Puzzle

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story (except where stated).

In case of confusion, I've run two episodes in together to make this one, 'O Partner, Where Art Thou' and 'Now You See It, Now You Don't'.

* * *

**DEVIATIONS**

_**Chapter 5**_

_The Partner Puzzle_

* * *

The chatter of the Hypnos control room when Yamaki was absent was always far more interesting than when he was present, although it inevitably ended up still work related, albeit more informal. 

"Energy fluctuations in sector S5…" Riley noted.

"That's the fourth time today…" Tally replied.

"Yeah, and it's increasing across the board…"

"What do you thinks' going on?"

"I think something big is going down…"

"Like what?"

"No idea…but if these readings are correct, we're going to get a level of bioemergence far higher than we've ever seen before…" Riley warned.

* * *

"Morning Guilmon!" Takato cheered, as he ran up with bags of bread before he had to go to school that day. The Sunday had been largely uneventful; a few games of cards with Henry were had until he suggested that they do their homework together. They were interrupted by a wayward Calumon who took the sheet of work that Takato had just finished and turned it into a hat (or at least, an approximation of a hat), which then promptly blew away, leaving Takato to groan and Henry offering to help him start over from the beginning. Regardless, it had been a relaxing day, no enemy Digimon, no school, and most of all, no Rika. 

Takato was still unsure what had gotten him so worked up the previous day about her, but he had somehow found the guts to stand up to her. He put it down to anger, and it still made little difference, she still put him down as always. Would they ever even have a chance to be friends, and would they have become friends under different circumstances? Takato frowned, the answer was probably no.

"Morning Takatomon…" Guilmon greeted dreamily.

* * *

Takato and Guilmon walked along a morning street, taking the fact that Takato had to wake up early to their advantage by using the mostly empty streets around the park, which would soon be full of commuter's cars. Takato smiled, it was good to have a chance to be with his partner before school. 

"Takatomon, do you ever sleep all funny?"

"Huh?"

"Last night when I was sleeping, it felt like I disappeared and went somewhere else…"

"Huh? You didn't escape again, did you?"

"No…"

"Maybe it was a dream then…"

"What's a dream?"

"It's when you're sleeping and you are in your own little world, full of strange things…"

"I don't think I was dreaming then, this world I went to was boring and foggy…"

"Huh? I've never had a dream like that…"

"What do you dream of?"

"I dream of Digimon, Battles and Rika…"

"You dream of Rika?"

Takato blushed slightly, realising what he had said. "No, I don't, don't worry about that…" he insisted.

"Okay Takatomon…" Guilmon replied, Takato suddenly noticing that his legs and lower body had turned fuzzy.

"What's happening?" Takato panicked.

"Huh?"

"You're blurring?"

Guilmon looked to his legs in confusion, as Takato grabbed him and pulled him from it, somehow restoring him to his usual fully red state.

"What was that?" Takato asked in fear.

"Did I do something wrong?" Guilmon asked.

"Something really weird is going on here…"

* * *

Another snotty day dawned in Rika's snotty boarding school full of her snotty fellow pupils. Today would be different somewhat, parents were invited to come and observe the lessons, an invitation which Rumiko, Rika's mother, had taken up, a move which surprised her no end. 

Rika glanced in her mirrored pencil case to see her mother taking a phone call. She frowned; looks like things would be the same of always.

The teacher continued to blah on, as Rika made the occasional notes, but didn't pay much attention to the lessons.

'_Why should I care about anyone else when not even my own mother cares about me?'_ she thought spitefully.

* * *

Henry and Takato sat by a tree, the problems with Hypnos and the lines now gone and the students free to use the playground once again. Takato was eating bread, and Henry was eating food from the cafeteria, which he recoiled at. 

"Smart idea bringing bread…" Henry joked to his friend.

"Yeah, working in a bakery helps…" Takato replied. "Do you want some?" he asked, passing a piece to the blue haired boy.

"Thanks…" Henry replied, beginning to eat it. Takato frowned, trying to find a way to pose his question without involving Guilmon, who to his knowledge Henry didn't know about.

"Henry…" he began. "Do you think that Digimon could just…vanish?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean like, how do they get back to the Digital World? Do they just spontaneously start vanishing?"

"No idea…that is strange though…"

"Yeah…I saw Calumon earlier on my way to school…he began to just vanish, until I pulled him away and it stopped…" Takato's lie made very little difference to the actual point in his eyes, although it would be troubling if Henry were to ask Calumon about it later.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'm worried we could lose him…"

"Hmm…maybe the real world just rejects Digimon, like a virus in the body…or maybe they can't hold their form here long enough and they go back?"

"But I don't want him to go back!"

'_Takato must be talking about Guilmon, he couldn't be this attached to Calumon…'_

"Do you know something?"

"I just know that nothing lasts forever Takato…"

"Well this will…" Takato insisted, standing up emotionally and running away. Henry watched his friend sadly.

'_Good luck Takato…'_ he thought, worrying also if the dream of having a Digimon wasn't all it seemed. Maybe they were merely temporary, their existence on its own was surprising, he wouldn't be surprised if there was a flaw to it.

* * *

'_What do I do if Guilmon leaves?'_ Takato thought, as he sat in class doodling a picture of Guilmon anxiously on his notepad. 

The sound of footsteps approached him.

'_Maybe if he digivolved he'd be strong enough to withstand what's happening…'_

"Clearly you aren't paying attention to the class if you're drawing pictures of that dinosaur again…" Mrs Asagi told him, making him look up in surprise.

"Oops…sorry Mrs Asagi…I was paying attention though…"

"Okay, then tell me everything you know about the tunnels under the park…"

"Um…" Takato began, dumb expression on his face. Mrs Asagi waited for a few seconds in order to take advantage of his alarm, before deciding that it wasn't worth it.

"Oh, it's a worthless lesson anyway; you made the right choice to goof off in this one Takato…" Mrs Asagi sighed, returning to the front of the class.

Takato glanced at the board, where a rudimentary map had been drawn. The spot which the tunnel ran under looked familiar, and this alarmed him.

"I want to know about the tunnels…" he said, but it was far too quiet for anyone to hear.

"Then listen in class for once…" one of his fellow students mocked.

* * *

"I don't care about her…" Rika muttered as she walked away from school. "If she can't even cancel a fashion shoot to be with me, then why should I try to spend time with her?" she added. 

She came to a crossing on a quiet road, and crossed, glancing left and right for anything periodically.

'_Like I even care if she does spend time with me or not…'_

Rika recalled an event the previous day when her mother had tried to talk to her while she was looking at her Digimon cards, even calling them Tarot cards at one point. She had ignored her mother most of the time and grunted occasionally, not particularly caring for what she was saying. She mentioned something about Rika needing to think what she wanted to do with her life, something which Rika found to be a stupid question.

'_I know what I want to do in my life, but she'd never understand…it's not just a card game, and it's a lot better and respectable than modelling…besides, I'm good at it already, like I need to think about it…'_

A geyser of light caught her attention, and her expression crept into a smile, as her pace quickened. This day might just turn out to be fun after all…

* * *

"Hey Guilmon!" Takato greeted, arriving eagerly back at the hideout to check that his partner still existed, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that he did. He was talking to Calumon, who seemed to have returned again. 

"Hi Takatomon!" Calumon greeted.

"Guilmon, did you tell him that my name is Takatomon?"

"No, but why, isn't it?" Guilmon asked.

"No, it's just Takato…"

"That's silly…" Calumon joked. Takato frowned, looking to the fairy, and asking a question that had bugged him.

"Calumon, where do you go during the day to, you know, hang out? Do you have a home or anything?"

"I have the whole world, I don't need a home…I come and go as I please!"

"But, don't you get lonely?"

"No…that's silly, there's Digimon everywhere in this world!" he cheered, once again not understanding the distinction between humans and Digimon. "Bye!" he cheered, running away once again. Takato frowned, the white blob was confusing.

"You know, it is silly!" Guilmon noted. Takato groaned, before noting a bleeping on his D-Arc.

"Time for action boy!" he told his partner.

* * *

Rika's dull, drab school outfit had been replaced by her usual blue and white attire by the time she stepped into the Digital Field that dominated a suburban road lined with houses, Renamon following. She removed her glasses once she had passed the layer which she had once learnt caused temporary vision impairment. In her first battle she had been caught unaware of this problem, and since then she had been far more prepared. 

She smirked, the previous day's attempts at a battle had been foiled by a particular Gogglehead, and it was time for her and Renamon to get back on track battle-wise. A large blue dinosaur with red stripes crossing its skin stepped out of the mist, a tuft of hair on the back of its head running a short way down its back.

"Now this is interesting…" Rika noted. "Ready Renamon?" she asked.

"Of course…" the vixen replied, narrowing her eyes on the beast as Rika checked her D-Arc.

"Allomon, Data Type, Armour Level, his attacks are Dino Burst and Dynamite Head…interesting, an amour level, somewhat unpredictable…regardless, nothing is a challenge for you Renamon…" she analysed.

"As we both know…" Renamon replied, walking forwards into the fray.

"Walk all over him!"

"With ease!" Renamon replied, leaping into the air and slamming her foot into the dinosaur's face. It grunted in pain, before swinging its tail around.

"Take this!" it roared, as Renamon was hit and knocked to the ground behind Rika, groaning in pain.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Rika ordered, not caring for her partner's injuries, as she lifted a card. "Time to fight properly…" she decided. "DIGI-MODIFY…SnowAgumon's Frozen Wind Activate!"

Renamon smiled, standing up as she felt the cold modification course through her. She leapt into the air, holding out her hand and using the loaned attack. "FROZEN WIND!" she called, sending forth a burst of icy wind at Allomon, who opened his jaws to release his counter-attack.

"DINO BURST!" he roared, a burst of flame shooting forth and meeting with the icy wind. The two attacks fought, Renamon knowing that she probably wouldn't be able to hold the borrowed move much longer.

"Fight properly!" Rika called. "You're just getting sloppy!" she taunted to her partner.

The words seemed to weaken Renamon as she threw more energy into her blast, feeling the oncoming tiredness already, as Rika stared on, determined to win.

"PYRO SPHERE!" came an attack from the side, colliding with Allomon's head and making him move. Renamon's additional abilities subsided, as she tiredly dropped to the concrete and landed gracefully, inwardly cursing herself for being unable to defeat the creature with the move.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Rika asked, turning to Takato arriving, clutching his D-Arc in hand and with Guilmon now in position near Allomon, growling.

"I'm here to stop this guy!" Takato replied.

"This is mine and Renamon's battle; she still has yet to take out your little pet…you'll have to wait…"

"I'm here to help you!"

"I don't need any help…" Rika replied, turning to her partner who was struggling to stand. Reflecting on it, funnelling all of her energy into a single attack, in particular a borrowed move from a modify card that required more energy in itself to pull off correctly, was a thoughtless move that Rika cursed herself for letting Renamon do, thinking she should've instead used more modify cards. But Renamon had to become strong enough to beat any Digimon without any cards at all, and babying her with modify cards like the Gogglehead had begun to do with Guilmon was something she wasn't prepared to do.

She frowned, looking at her partner. She was weak in her eyes, not even enough to stand up to an armour level. So what if Armour levels had power ranging from a strong rookie to a weak ultimate, Renamon could beat any of them with Rika as her partner. It felt like a personal embarrassment to have the Gogglehead see her failure, and she wouldn't let it continue. Renamon was going to beat Allomon, alone, and then she was going to beat Guilmon and load his data, and she would finally be free of the annoyance wearing the goggles that had bugged her for the past few days.

"Renamon, digivolve now!" she ordered, Renamon glancing to her in concern. "Do it!" Rika added, sick and tired of no progress in her partner's levels for so long.

Renamon attempted to do so, but a tail slammed into her and she was slammed in a building, groaning in pain.

"Rika, you've got to help her!" Takato advised, alarm in his voice at Renamon's condition.

"Quiet!" Rika called, pulled a card into her hand. "DIGI-MODIFY…Digivolution Activate!"

Renamon suddenly began to scream in pain as her data blurred, the card burning her as it failed to have any effect. Rika groaned in annoyance, pointing at her partner.

"You're completely useless!"

"Leave her alone!" Takato said to her in anger, as an overpowered Guilmon, hazard flashing erratically leapt at Allomon.

"ROCK BREAKER!" he called, slamming into the other dinosaur's side and causing pain in the blue one's side, as it turned and slammed it's head into Guilmon.

"You don't even care at all about your partner!" Takato snapped. "You just let her get injured and couldn't even care less about her…"

Rika recoiled slightly, somewhat surprised at Takato's outburst, before she balled her hand into a fist, denying what he was saying.

"DYNAMITE HEAD!" he roared, as the explosive force of the collision threw Guilmon aside.

"Guilmon!" Takato called, running to his partner, who was surprisingly back on his feet once again, hurt but not affected by it. Guilmon growled, his behaviour seemingly out of control. "Um…Guilmon?" Takato asked nervously.

"PYRO SPHERE!" he roared, a huge burst of fire far larger than normal erupting from his mouth and colliding with the blue dinosaur, blowing a hole in him and breaking him into data.

Renamon leapt into the air, absorbing it as some of her injuries healed, landing gracefully, although still painfully.

"Hey!" Takato complained.

"You weren't going to make good use of it…and by the way, you're wrong, Rika does not just let me get injured, she knew exactly what she was doing in that battle…" she corrected, looking to Takato. Rika glanced to her partner curiously, she'd been the one who was injured and now she was defending what her Tamer had done. Rika had made mistakes, and Renamon still denied them, standing fast.

Guilmon growled to Renamon, the anger still in him from the hazard. Renamon glanced to him.

"Um…are you okay?" Takato asked, Guilmon blinking and then looking to his Tamer, anger subsiding suddenly.

"Yes Takatomon, why?" he asked, completely oblivious to how he had been acting.

"You were acting…kinda weird…"

Rika glanced to the pair, considering a battle, before glancing to Renamon, trying to stand as normal on a clearly injured foot. She frowned, Renamon was pathetic in getting injured, but at the same time, loosing her in battle and having the Gogglehead and his baby dinosaur being the only ones dealing with these threats, leaving her aside like a nobody, was not an option. Guilmon's erratic power surges were too much of a risk at the moment, and so she swallowed her pride, walking away from the human and dinosaur. "Come on Renamon…" she called, Renamon carefully following behind her, making sure not to press down on her foot.

"Hey!" Takato called. "Don't just run off…"

Rika continued to walk, ignoring the Gogglehead except for to mock him. "Go to hell Gogglehead…" she replied.

Impmon smirked, watching their fallout below. Then again, the term 'fall out' suggests that they were ever friends in the first place. "Pathetic humans…" he muttered. "Pathetic Digimon too, fancy working for a human like that, and getting hurt to boot…so pathetic, absolutely no independence for themselves…"

* * *

Rika bit her lip, walking along the route back to her home, not once glancing at the partner she had become ashamed of. 

'_Is she trying to make me look bad?' _she thought, her eyebrows furrowing in annoyance. _'Who does she think she is, I'm the best and if she can't be the same then I don't need her…?'_

"Rika, are you okay?" the fox asked, concern in her voice.

"Why can't you digivolve?!" Rika asked, sounding like an insult towards Renamon, which was exactly how it was intended. "I used a card for god's sake, what the hell else do you need?"

"I'm sorry Rika…"

"If you can't digivolve, I don't need you…I'm going to be the best, and if you can't match that, then I don't need you, got it?"

Renamon frowned. "I'm sorry Rika…"

"Humph…" Rika replied, continuing on along her path and deciding to ignore her fox-like partner, who followed ashamedly.

'_Why am I unable to digivolve? What else do I need?' _Renamon thought, feeling annoyed at herself at being unable to do anything to please her partner. _'At this rate, that dino will reach champion level before I do…'_

Renamon vanished into thin air as Rika turned and opened the gate to her home, storming through the door and ignoring her grandma's greeting, entering her room and falling down on her futon.

Renamon reappeared, looking to her partner, eager to hear what she would ask of her.

"Go away Renamon…we'll talk later…" Rika ordered. Renamon dipped her head, vanishing once again. Rika gritted her teeth, recalling how she had met the partner whom she had begun to feel disgraced about.

It had been a month prior to their first battle against Guilmon and Takato in the park, the day of the Digital Monster Card Tournament, held in Akihabara by its largest store stocking them. The time around the tournament was always a major time for the Digimon fanbase, since it led to plenty of potential opponents gathering in the area and wishing to compete, so practicing was easy.

Rika didn't bother to practice for the tournament.

Since her first tournament, when she as an nine year old beat a fourteen year old who thought they were a champion, she had amassed a collection of three more medals, leaving so called 'masters' of the game in her wake each year since then. She had first acquired the cards a year before the first tournament, and had quickly mastered them, spending all her spare time and pocket money on them, and thriving in the number of opponents available to beat in Shinjuku Park's playground, which surprised both them and her watching grandma. She had taken to the cards for an unknown reason, Rumiko had frowned upon her somewhat for it, but the wins began to make Rika realise that her mother was only interested in fashion, rather than in her personal hobbies, and they had continued to grow distant since then.

The game had begun to grow tedious; at one point she enjoyed watching the reactions on her early teen-aged opponents, who tended to be her competition in the finals, the double reaction of being beaten by a girl who was also younger than them being priceless, but it was no longer so impressive.

She had returned home, practically discarding the medallion alongside the others, having received it in a somewhat cold reception ceremony with an over-eager presenter, placed her cards on the table and lay on her futon, contemplating how everyone was less than her, and how she had become bored.

The atmosphere in the room had suddenly altered, as her card reader strangely glowed, and three bright white three-dimensional squares had appeared in her room. At the time Rika had felt scared, for the first time in years for that matter, but she later realised that that was weak. Not facing up to something like that and simply freaking out about it. As pathetic as the Gogglehead.

Digimon had appeared, yearned for digivolution, for partnership, for strength, all talking at once and making her quiver back against the wall in fear as hands reached out. Rika couldn't believe that she had been so scared by them, they were so pathetic and she was so strong, they had no right to even speak in her presence like that, and had she later had the chance with Renamon, she would've wiped the floor with all of them.

She recalled calling out that she wanted just one strong Digimon. And then, she came. The sea of digimon parted as her card reader grew brighter, a shadowed fox-like shape walking through the rest, which she recognised as a Renamon, a card she had once dismissed as a weak rookie that paled in comparison to more tactical creatures.

"_**You wanted someone powerful, didn't you?"**_

Rika gritted her teeth, Renamon wasn't powerful at all! She couldn't even digivolve.

She couldn't even take out Gogglehead's pathetic little dino-boy for god's sake!

* * *

Takato frowned as he sat, back to the wall of the hideout, looking to his partner who seemed to have occupied himself with extending the hole he had dug in the floor, his tail wagging out of it as he did so. The earlier battle had worried Takato, the look he had seen in the redhead's partner's eyes looked painful, but also sorrowful. He couldn't imagine being Rika's partner, being ordered around like that, and then still following orders to the book. 

Something didn't seem right. Why did Renamon follow Rika, even after how she was treated? Was Rika all she seemed?

Then again, he wasn't exactly Rika's friend; she wasn't going to be nice to him. But, did she even have any friends at all? When they first met, he had assumed that Renamon was her friends, but the recent battle had made him think otherwise.

At the same time, he knew that he wanted to be Rika's friend. They both had Digimon; they were both Tamers, why did she object to it so much? They had seemed to be close to becoming friends when they had escaped Hypnos, but she didn't change. She still came after Guilmon, she still wouldn't listen to him, and she didn't even want to fight alongside him.

"_**I only make friends with the best, and no-one is better than or equal to me…"**_

It seemed that she was true to her word: not even Renamon seemed to be equal to her. And her threat of attacking without warning also worried him, although it did make him wonder what she intended to do before then.

His eyes widened, as Guilmon's tail began to fizz, and he leapt forward in panic.

"Guilmon!" he yelled, grabbing his partner's tail.

"Takatomon, I feel funny!" Guilmon replied, his voice turning strange.

"No!" Takato yelled, before his hands fell right through and Guilmon vanished into thin air from the hole, red gaseous blobs of data floating away. "Guilmon!" he yelled to it, to no avail, before falling back, completely unknowing of what to do.

He stared to the hole where Guilmon's tail had once been. The bread scoffing dino who was his friend. His best friend. Even when he ran away, even when he went feral, even when he tried to eat his D-Arc when Takato had forgotten bread for that evening.

And he was gone. Takato had lost him. Not to Rika, not to Hypnos, but to a random event that made him fade away, a painful long loss.

"I'm not losing him! He's got to be somewhere!" he decided, clenching his fists properly for the first time in his life, and pushing himself up and standing determined. To face Hypnos or anything that dared take his friend.

Even if he had to get Rika's help to do so.

* * *

In that moment, sitting with her back to the wall and quivering as the windows vanished, Rika had felt true fear, unjustified fear, fear she swore she would never have again. Not in being frightened, not in being threatened, let alone in worrying for another. 

She had crawled across the floor to her no-longer glowing card reader left on the table. She had begun to have doubts of what she had seen, considering it to be a wild fantasy or a dream, and cursing herself for it. Then she found it, amongst her cards, a card of blue with the Digital Monster symbol, a symbol which vanished upon tilting it. Her curiosity had been triggered, and she lifted her card reader, sweeping the card through it.

Then it happened. To her gaping expression, her card reader glowed and morphed, becoming the D-Arc that was still clipped to her belt today. She had wished for only one thing, a wish she now doubted as having any effect, but regardless, the result was the same.

Renamon had appeared in front of her, glowing, before dropping gracefully to the ground as she had always done since then. She had said that she was looking for a strong Tamer, and announced that Rika was it.

"_**It's no accident that we're a team: share your strength with me, and we will be unstoppable…"**_

The lie hurt. Rika swore it was a lie, Renamon hadn't digivolved yet, she seemed to have begun to pale in comparison to the Gogglehead's partner, and she was a pathetic waste of a partner. Rika had done her side of the deal, she shared her strength with Renamon in every battle, she'd swiped cards practically every time.

What else did she have to do?

* * *

"All I need to do is destroy one strong Digimon, maybe even Guilmon, and load the data. How hard can it be?" Renamon mooted, feeling the pain beginning to subside in her foot as she took the pressure off it by sitting on a telephone wire. 

"By the looks of ya, you still ain't ditched your human yet, so it's as hard as taking a shower with only an INFERNAL FUNNEL!" a voice yelled, as a sphere of fire collided with the fox, knocking her off balance as she swung round and grabbed onto the wire, looking towards her foe with angered eyes.

"Who are you?" she asked angrily.

"Impmon's the name, no partner's the game…" replied the purple Imp, smirking at the fox.

"Another target to destroy…" Renamon replied, swinging up into the air and crossing her arms.

"Wait, what?!" Impmon asked, surprised at having no chance to talk like he had prepared.

"DIAMOND STORM!" the fox shrieked, Impmon's eyes going wide as he leapt back, tumbling to the ground.

"Ya could've let me finish!" he complained, standing up, as Renamon landed, looking towards her foe who had escaped, ready to finish the fight which she expected to be short lived.

"_Renamon…"_

Renamon frowned, she would've hoped to have finished this fight to become one step closer to pleasing her Tamer by digivolving, but by the looks of it, she would have to wait until later. She vanished into thin air.

"Hey, come back!" Impmon complained. "Aw, what's the use?!" he added in annoyance.

* * *

Yamaki frowned. They'd picked up an anomaly in the data patterns, unlike any they'd seen before. "Send a tracer…" he ordered, the usual procedure. It bugged him, it simply seemed to be a strange white gap on the monitors, and that was apparently what it would be like in real life too. 

He watched as the symbol for the tracer moved towards it, before it vanished.

"It was destroyed…" Riley noted. Yamaki frowned.

* * *

"You called?" Renamon asked, appearing in Rika's room once again. 

"Who's Impmon?" Rika asked, looking at her D-Arc. "Impmon, Virus Type, Rookie Level, his attacks are Bada-Boom and Infernal Funnel…"

"I have dealt with him…" Renamon reported, Rika nodding.

"Good…" she replied. "I'm giving you one last chance, and we're going after Guilmon…" she decided.

"Excellent…"

* * *

Takato ran past where their earlier confrontation had taken place. From here on, he was simply guessing, he'd seen where Rika had gone, but he had no idea where she lived. He just hoped he was lucky enough to figure it out. 

He had to. For Guilmon.

He ran into smaller streets, lined by houses, before reaching a dead-end in the road, led off by two pedestrian-only pathways. He turned right, completely guessing in his moves, as he turned randomly occasionally, running faster and faster as if it would make a difference. He felt his breath waning, the effort of running, albeit at his surprisingly fast pace, taking its toll. He looked down to the ground, before running straight into something.

He heard a grunt as he recoiled. A female grunt.

"What the hell?" Rika asked, looking up at the brunette. "You again…" she noted, smiling at her luck. It would save her so much time for Renamon to finally take out his little dino. "Finally a chance to take out your little partner…"

"Guilmon vanished…" Takato said spitefully.

"What?" Rika asked, her voice blunt and completely the antipathy of what Takato wanted at that moment.

"He just faded, and then vanished…" Takato told her, more emotionally.

Rika frowned. "Should I care?"

Takato frowned, looking to one side. "I thought you were looking forward to destroying him?" he asked. "Surely that's a reason for you to care?"

Rika silently cursed him, he was right; she was annoyed that Renamon apparently wouldn't have her chance to get the dinosaur that had proved to be their bane. She glanced up, noticing something move behind him.

"Hypnos…" she muttered, identifying the four familiar style black suits approaching along the pathway. What on earth were they doing here?

She grabbed Takato by the hand as he looked up to figure out what she had said, and dragged him back, putting one arm around his waist when he turned out to be more difficult to move than she thought.

"What are you…" he began, before her hand covered his mouth as she pulled him back through her house's gate. He began to try to talk and struggle, as she kicked the gate closed.

"It's Hypnos…" she whispered to him, as he stopped struggling, his expression changing to one of alarm of a different kind, as he tried to move forward to look through the gap in the fence, but was unable to.

"Can you move your arm?" he asked quietly, Rika blushing as she realised she still had her arm around his waist, removing it quickly as Renamon raised an eyebrow.

Rika quickly dismissed it, before joining Takato in looking through the crack in the gate as the Hypnos officers ran past, potentially having spotted her and Takato at the end of the pathway they were on. They thankfully didn't notice the two pairs of eyes watching them which subsequently sighed in relief, and moved away from the gap.

"I think we're safe…" Takato noted.

"Then get out of my house…" Rika said, her voice now vexed.

"Hey, you dragged me in here…and, I kinda need your help…"

Rika raised an eyebrow; Takato couldn't be so stupid as to expect her to help him with anything, would he?

"Ah, Rika, I see you've brought a friend home…" said the voice of Seiko Hata, interrupting the pair from behind them as she opened the door to see what the commotion was about. "And you would be?" she asked.

"Takato…" replied the goggle-headed boy, as Rika inwardly groaned.

"Please come in then…" Seiko offered, Takato nodding nervously and entering the house, an annoyed Rika following soon after.

'_Oh great, things are turning out really well…'_ Rika thought, as Seiko pointed down the hallway leading to the other rooms of the house.

"You'll probably want to sit outside on such a nice day…" she noted, as Takato noticed a garden through an open sliding door on the hallway.

"Thank you…" Takato replied, trying to simply be polite in the absence of any other idea of what to do.

"You seem like a nice young man, Rika doesn't bring many friends home…" Seiko noted, smiling. Rika frowned, grabbing Takato's wrist and dragging him down the hallway.

"Come on Gogglehead…" she said, annoyance in her voice, as Seiko smiled in amusement.

'_Surprising to see Rika of all people with a boyfriend…at least, I assume that's what he is…why has she never mentioned him before?'_ she pondered. _'Oh well, mustn't intrude…at least not in a big way…'_ she mentally added.

Takato stepped out into the garden, and looked back to Rika nervously, as she let go of his wrist and sat on the boards of the hallway of her house. Takato turned around, unsure of what to do. "Um…I still don't understand why you don't like me…" he said, before regretting letting his thoughts escape.

"Christ you're persistent, what are you, in love with me or something loverboy? You and your little dreams about me?" she mocked.

"I admit, I had a dream about you before we met, and it's really bugged me because I don't know what it means…"

Rika glanced to Takato, as he raised his hands defensively by instinct.

"But, don't get the wrong idea, I'm not following you around because of that…in fact, I'm not trying to follow you around at all…I just wanted to ask about Guilmon and him vanishing…"

"Alright kid, don't get your knickers in a twist…"

"What are knickers?" Takato asked.

"Girl's underwear Gogglehead…" Rika explained, rolling her eyes.

"What, are you calling me a girl? And what do you mean kid, we're the same age?"

"I'm calling you a kid because you don't know anything about anything; you talk about seeing me in a dream. Do you know how weird that is?"

"Um…I'm sorry…" Takato tried to apologise.

"You apologise far too much Takato…Gogglehead…you really need a backbone…" Rika replied, correcting her mistake as she did so. Takato sat down carefully next to her, being careful so as not to have done so in error.

"I just thought that maybe we could work together…you know, you've got a Digimon, I…had a Digimon…" Takato replied, frowning upon remembering Guilmon's vanishing.

"What, like a couple?" Rika asked, questioning what he was suggesting as she raised her eyebrows in somewhat surprise.

"No, I meant a team!" Takato insisted, defensively raising his hands once again.

"Well, anyway, we can't…" Rika replied, Takato frowning in response. Renamon vanished into thin air all of a sudden, as Seiko called out through the house.

"Rika!" she shouted, before realising her mistake and opening the door, looking (although actually faking being) embarrassed. "Sorry, I'm not used to Rika having boyfriends home…"

Takato and Rika turned bright red, Takato then looking to Rika in order to see how she would react. He noticed himself instinctively raising his hands to block any unexpected punches, knowing that they weren't unlikely from what he'd heard.

"Grandma, he's not my boyfriend!" Rika insisted. Seiko chuckled; it was interesting to see how they reacted, although it did bug her if this boy wasn't in a relationship with her like that. She went to an all-girls school after all, and the way she seemed to act around him seemed anything but friendly. So why exactly was he here, and where on earth did they meet? "How about I make cookies for the two of you, it should only take a second in the oven?" she suggested.

"Thanks…" Takato replied, before feeling Rika try to shove him aside with her hand, although he knew she would've done more had her grandmother not been watching.

"He's not staying…" she replied. "You're not…" she asserted to him, whispering somewhat.

"Hope you come and see us again…" Seiko continued.

"Sure…" Takato replied, once again letting his mouth talk before his brain had time to compute the words.

"You're not…" Rika told him, as the door closed completely. Rika frowned, pushing him aside and causing him to fall over on the step, landing on his side on the floor as she chuckled at how he did so, before her mouth turned to a frown. "So, before you go, why did you even come here in the first place?" she asked.

"Um…I said already, Guilmon vanished and I need your help to find him…" he asked.

"So? How exactly?"

"Well, can Digimon turn back into data, and do they ever just disappear and go back to their own world?"

"Of course…"

"I mean, not when you destroy them and let the data go…"

Rika chuckled. "Never done that Gogglehead, and never plan to…" she replied, before noticing his expression. He didn't exactly look happy, nor in the mood to really take insults about the topic. "I mean, they're just data, so probably…"

"Doesn't that make you sad at all?"

"No, why? They're just data, getting attached to it is just like getting attached to a lump of dust…" Rika replied, rather callously for Takato considering that he noticed Renamon was well within earshot behind her.

"Oh…" Takato replied sadly, considering what he had seen today, and what he had contemplated earlier about their partnership, which seemed to merely be a fighting one. "Well…can you help me look for him?" he asked.

"No, I have better things to do…" Rika replied.

"Please…"

"Don't even try to grovel Gogglehead…I am not wasting my time with that, and that's final, got it?"

"Fine…" Takato replied, standing up. "I'll see myself out, thanks a lot…" he replied, Rika surprised at how direct he was being as he walked through the house, she following after a few seconds of surprise. "Bye Mrs…"

"Hata…" Seiko replied, looking in curiosity at Takato's annoyed pose and tone of voice, and the way that Rika was following him, almost apologetically. "Hope we see you again…" she added. Takato grunted, as he opened the door and left, heading through the gate soon after as Rika closed the door, before looking up to the stare of her Grandma.

"He is not my boyfriend!" she insisted.

"Did you break up then?" her grandma asked.

"No!" Rika replied defensively. "I was never with him, he's just…the Gogglehead…" he replied.

"Huh?"

"It's his nickname…"

Seiko began to smile, and Rika became more vexed by the second.

"Not like that!" she insisted, cottoning onto the fact that her grandmother thought it was some kind of pet name for him.

"Sure…" she replied, keeping only a hint of sarcasm in her voice, as Rika stormed off to her room. Seiko frowned; whatever was going on here was definitely very strange. Particularly since it involved Rika and boys, or in fact, Rika and other people in general. She had always noticed Rika's lack of friends, she never brought friends home, preferring solitude over it. It saddened the eldest in the household, Rika didn't seem to try to make friends with anyone, and, from what she had just witnessed, she'd blown it with the only person she possibly could do so with.

* * *

Takato's storming pace turned into an anxious run as his eyes began to redden and water, the events of the previous hour taking their toll. He quickly passed the pathways of the residential district and out to the streets outside, opening his eyes again only when he realised that he needed to see where he was going. 

He had to find Guilmon.

* * *

Rika sat back down on the steps, looking at the ground, feeling the strange feeling of pity, and maybe even sadness, about the boy. She shook her head, why did she need to care about him? Him and his little dino had always gotten in her way, and she was sick of it. 

Her D-Arc bleeped, and she took it from her belt, as Renamon appeared cautiously, making sure that her grandmother had gone beforehand.

"Let's go…" she told her partner, as the fox vanished. She walked through the house, and exited the door. "Going out Grandma…" she called.

Seiko smiled slightly. Maybe Rika was going to make up with the boy, to catch up with him before it was too late.

'_Good luck…'_ she wished, although completely assuming the wrong thing.

* * *

Rika stepped from the orangey evening light into the Digital Field, not smiling at all as she removed her glasses and Renamon stepped in behind her. She lifted her D-Arc as Renamon focused on their new foe. 

"Dokugumon, Virus Type, Champion Level, her attacks are Spider Thread, Poison Cobweb and Venom Blast…" she quoted monotonously.

Renamon raised an eyebrow at her lack of enthusiasm, before stepping forward to better look at their foe.

'_Just another easy battle…'_ Rika thought, as she looked around the tree lined fog, a part of Shinjuku Park. Cobwebs appeared to have been placed around, and the spider-like Digimon crawled around on them.

"Rika, watch out!" Renamon called as she grabbed the redhead, flipped over and landed on the ground, a web sweeping past where Rika once stood. "Are you okay Rika?" she asked.

"Um…yeah…" Rika replied, surprised by the level of concern in Renamon's voice, as she heard Dokugumon approach.

"Perfect, I was looking forward to dinner…" Dokugumon mocked, crawling towards them.

"Time to step on a spider…" Renamon said, putting Rika down and leaping into the air, crossing her arms. "DIAMOND STORM!" she yelled, diamonds flying forth at the giant spider, who turned around.

"SPIDER THREAD!" she called, a web being fired from her rear that took out each and every diamond, before turning and opening her mouth, releasing a purple blast of poison. "VENOM BLAST!" she roared, as the blast hit Renamon in mid-air, causing her to lose control and latch onto a web, groaning in pain, enhanced by the fact she was dangling by her injured foot.

"Renamon, get out of there!" Rika called.

"Rika, you get out of there!" she replied in alarm, groaning in pain.

"SPIDER THREAD!" Dokugumon called once again, Rika looking up in horror as she was caught by it, beginning to squirm to escape the sticky web, to no avail.

"Rika!" Renamon called, her voice horse from the pain from both battles today.

Dokugumon advanced on Rika, who began to shiver in fear.

'_Never be scared…never be scared…'_ Rika told herself, recalling what she had sworn, but it was no use, she couldn't stop her fear. She couldn't move to squirm and attempt to escape; she just stared into the eyes of her attacker.

She screamed as she saw fate look her in the eye, the worst fear imaginable, the fear that it'd all be over a short while from now.

And she had sent Renamon into that so many times.

"DIAMOND STORM!" Renamon yelled, Rika looking on in alarm and shock as the diamonds shot towards her, never expecting herself to be on this end of that attack. She closed her eyes and held herself tightly, as she heard the diamonds skim past her ear, but never actually touch her.

She opened her eyes, and looked herself over in surprise, before looking up to Renamon, unable to talk at first. "Renamon, you saved my life…" she said, realising what Renamon had done…after she'd almost made her lose her own life so many times in the past.

"Think again!" Dokugumon taunted, turning to the fox and crawling towards her.

"Rika, run now!" Renamon said, alarmed for Rika's safety.

"I'm not leaving you…" Rika said, her gaze locking with Renamon's, the first real compassion gaze they'd ever had, Rika smiling slightly as she drew a card. "DIGI-MODIFY…Snimon's Twin Sickles Activate!"

"Time to clean up some cobwebs!" her partner declared, as the blades of the creature appeared on her arms. She sliced herself free, leaping back and using her move. "TWIN SICKLES!" she yelled, sending two pink swathes of energy at the spider, who knocked them aside with her helm, before leaping forward.

"My turn again!" she declared, moving closer and closer to Renamon, opening her jaw and biting down on Renamon's mid-section, locking her in place, unable to move. Renamon groaned in pain as she felt more injuries added to her long list so far.

"Leave her alone!" Rika called, suddenly feeling care for her partner beyond simply winning the battle, but as a write.

"As you wish…" Dokugumon replied, hauntingly similar to many of Renamon's replies, before throwing the fox's body aside to land in even more webs than before, as the spider turned to face Rika once again.

"Rika…save yourself…" Renamon said weakly.

"VENOM BLAST!" the spider roared, a blast heading straight for a Rika paralysed in fear. Renamon suddenly appeared in front of Rika, looking into her eyes with care, before she groaned in pain, having protected her partner from the deadly blast with her own body.

"No!" Rika whimpered, seeing her partner barely able to stand, close to death. "Why'd you do it?"

"Because you're my partner…" Renamon replied, before collapsing to the ground, Rika grabbing her as she fell to give her a slower landing.

"I'm so sorry Renamon…" Rika said, truly sorry for all the pain she had caused her partner.

Calumon walked up to Rika, frowning as the symbol on his head glowed red. "Is it all over?" he asked.

"Rika…get away while you can…" Renamon said weakly.

"Don't go! Please don't leave me! You're my only friend!"

Her own words and Takato's echoed through her head.

"_**I just thought that maybe we could work together…you know, you've got a Digimon, I…had a Digimon…"**_

"_**Well…can you help me look for him?"**_

"_**No, I have better things to do…"**_

"_**I…had a Digimon…"**_

"_**I…had a Digimon…"**_

"_**I…had a Digimon…"**_

The words repeated over and over again in Rika's head, pain growing each time as she stared at her partner's helpless form.

"Renamon, don't leave me!" she said emotionally, bending over her.

"I have to…" Renamon replied, her voice weakening. "Please go…" she added, closing her eyes from the pain.

"Wait…you can't…" Rika said, close to tears.

Everything ran through her head at once as she felt so many emotions, compiled into a simple word said in a simple way.

"RENAMON!" she yelled, her D-Arc bursting into beams of light which enshrouded her, and began to make her partner glow.

Renamon moaned, opening her eyes as she felt energy flow into her.

**DIGIVOLUTION**

**Renamon Digivolve to…**

Renamon slashed at the air before her data was stripped from its wireframe, starting from her snout, tail, arms and legs and working towards her very core as a ball of dark blue data enshrouded her. The data began to reform on her extremities, as zaps of lightning collided with the ball, altering her form as a new data set was created and triggered. Nine yellow tails replaced one, and a white mane ran up her neck, her head forming as the data set created it, her blue eyes glowing with determination. She swung herself around, revealing her form, a yellow quadruped fox with nine tails and red and white charms around her neck, the bells at the end shining gold. As she swung her tails around, blue flames ignited on them and her feet, and burned brightly as she declared her title.

…**Kyubimon!**

"You digivolved…" Rika said in amazement. "But…how?" she asked, near speechless. "Even cards didn't work…"

"The cards had nothing to do with it; it was you Rika that unlocked this form…" Kyubimon replied.

"How?"

"You cared for me…and I care for you…" the fox answered, turning to pass a smile to the redhead, both smiling in the slightest way possible, but it still meant all the world to each of them.

"No more timewasting…SPIDER THREAD!" the Dokugumon yelled, turning and aiming her web to once again capture her foe.

Kyubimon closed her eyes as her tails lifted, pointing into a fan as the light dimmed and their blue flames roared louder.

"FOX TAIL INFERNO!" she called, as her tails flung forward, propelling their fires as they did so. The fires homed in on the threads around them, as well as that which had been fired at them, before turning and homing in on their foe from all directions.

Dokugumon panicked seeing her advantage literally burn away. "Not so fast!" she called, leaping forward off of her web as it burned away. Kyubimon leapt towards her.

"DRAGON WHEEL!" she called, balling up into a dragon of blue flames, which roared before enveloping Dokugumon with them.

Dokugumon's form split, as the flames broke apart her data. Kyubimon came out of her dragon-like form, before she glowed, her tails billowing as the data flowed into her. The Digital Field and the burning threads within it glowed, as Rika watched in amazement.

"Unbelievable…" she said, staring at her now champion-level partner, as her blue flames on her feet touched the ground, not burning it at all. They silenced, fading away completely, as Kyubimon smiled. The pinging sound of rain had begun to reach their ears, but Kyubimon and Rika were far too transfixed on what had just happened to notice their fur and clothes getting wet respectively.

"Now do you understand?" she asked.

"Yeah…now I understand what made Guilmon so powerful in battle…their friendship…they care for each other…"

"I believe that there was something else which contributed to that…"

"Hmm…maybe…" Rika pondered, considering what she had seen in previous battles, the sign on Guilmon's chest flashing. "I'm sorry for not caring about you…you're amazing, you're more than just data…" Rika said, placing her hand on Kyubimon's face. "You're a friend…" she added.

Kyubimon nodded, as Rika smiled, before raising an eyebrow.

"By the way, I didn't just admit that the Gogglehead is right…you are still going to absorb data, I don't see the remotest problem with it…but…"

"I feel wrong for trying to destroy that connection between Guilmon and his Tamer…after seeing it between us…"

"Yeah…I feel wrong about something else too…I almost lost you…and…it felt awful…painful…I was scared, for the first time in my life since my father left I was scared that I would lose someone, and back then, I didn't understand what was really going on…but…is this how Takato feels?"

Kyubimon frowned, nodding unsurely. Rika clenched her fist.

"It's time to find out what's really going on here…and help someone in the process…" Rika replied, before correcting herself to ensure that her partner, or anyone watching, didn't think she'd gone too soft. "But my main reason is to find out so that it doesn't happen to you too, got that?"

Kyubimon smiled, some things would take far longer to change. She nodded.

Impmon frowned in annoyance, watching from a tree above. "Yeuck…" he noted. "They've gone soft, with all the touchy-feely crap…" he complained, before leaving.

"Still, that was a great victory…" Rika noted, impressed by the complete clearance of all of the threads by her partner's fires.

"It wasn't the victory that mattered…you made me stronger by caring about me…you are a true friend…" Kyubimon replied.

'_My only friend…'_ Rika thought, unsure if that was a good or a bad thing, as she nodded in response to what the fox had said. "Just don't tell Gogglehead about this chat…"

Kyubimon smiled and nodded, as Rika walked along her side, deciding to attempt something. She grabbed onto her partner's fur, causing the fox to give a curious expression before realising what Rika was trying, as she unsteadily threw her foot over the fox's back, grabbing on tight to the mane before she fell off that side. She checked that she was in place correctly; falling off on her first try was not what she intended to do.

"Ready?" the fox asked.

"Yeah" Rika replied.

* * *

The rain was felt by someone else, although emotionally rather than physically. A dejected Takato, hair wet and clothes damp, sat against the wall of the hideout, staring out into the rain pouring down outside. His tears were concealed by the water that remained on his face, his redness by the dark of the structure. Night had fallen, but Takato didn't feel remotely like going home. He didn't feel like doing anything. 

He had failed.

He'd looked everywhere, trying to figure out where his partner had gone to. He'd pretty much been everywhere in Shinjuku Park, around his neighbourhood, even to the area around Hypnos at one point in a stupidly risky move, running everywhere at full pace despite his fatigue. He'd given up eventually, and retreated to the abandoned building he now sat in, its walls towering around him in size thanks to the absence of its usual occupant which brought some odd sense of scale to the place. His D-Arc sat in his hand, screen pressing against the ground.

Anger, depression, sadness, fear, he'd been through such a range of emotions in the past few hours that he couldn't even name some of them. But the emotion that now stained his heart was a deep one, yet strangely hollow at the same time. It was one that was hard to define, one that was rarely mentioned, one that could only be understood by those who had felt it.

Emptiness.

Guilmon had brought a sense of purpose to his life, as a friend, as a carer, as a Tamer, and he'd lost it all for absolutely no clear reason. It wasn't his lack of skill as a Tamer, it wasn't Guilmon running off, it wasn't a fall-out, Guilmon simply vanished, and Takato was pained to comprehend returning to the life without him.

Every day, waking up, going late to school, getting punished with a detention or otherwise by Mrs Asagi, going through the day doodling and learning nothing at all until he returned to the park, playing some now boring games of cards, going home and going to bed. Nothing exciting in his life, nothing interesting, no purpose.

And he had no way of getting that back. His one attempt to appeal to the one he hoped would be able to help had been fruitless, his search attempts failed, and he felt awful.

New tears streamed down his face, tired ones, as the long day set in and he felt weak. Emotionally, physically, mentally. He was sure that, had he been stronger, a better Tamer, a better thinker, even just more awake, he'd have thought of something, but he wasn't.

Guilmon didn't even have a chance to say goodbye.

Takato snivelled, his tears waning through exhaustion, as footsteps came to the opening to the hideout. If it wasn't Guilmon, and since Guilmon would've leapt at him by now, it wasn't, Takato didn't care who it was.

Rika paused, her cheery spirit from the battle vanishing upon seeing the state the boy was in. Kyubimon stood at the foot of the stone path, carefully watching out for anyone who would see her, in which case she would have to make a quick escape.

What was she meant to say? She didn't want to appear too caring, particularly not in front of the Gogglehead, but at the same time, she didn't want to be mean, it feeling like kicking him when he was down.

"Come on then…" she said, as the boy glanced up, a look of bewilderment adding to his existing one of grief.

"Huh?"

"Let's go find your dino…" she added, rolling her eyes slightly at how he hadn't understood her.

"Really?"

"I haven't got all night Gogglehead…" she insisted, grabbing his arm and dragging him up, feeling the effort ease as Takato stood up on his own. Rika turned, walking down the path, as Takato followed cautiously.

"But…why are you helping me?" Takato asked, unconsciously checking the sky for flying pigs.

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth Gogglehead…" Rika replied, climbing onto her partner's back, as Takato approached, his footing varying as he grappled with what was going on.

"Is that Renamon?" he asked in surprise, looking at the new form. Rika nodded proudly, as Takato raised his D-Arc. "Kyubimon, Data Type, Champion Level, attacks Fox Tail Inferno and Dragon Wheel…" he read.

"Don't you think I already know that?" Rika asked, cursing herself internally when she recalled she hadn't actually scanned her partner's new form with her own D-Arc earlier. Takato stepped up to the side of the fox, looking bewildered by how he would get on. Rika frowned, putting out her hand. Takato grabbed it, and Rika pulled him sharply up, displaying her irritation. "Are you finally ready?" she asked, annoyed tone in her voice as Takato tried to find something to grab onto.

"Yeah, I think so…" he replied nervously, as Kyubimon began to move.

"Oh and Gogglehead, get your hands off me…" Rika told him, as he blushed profusely, realising that he hadn't thought about what to hold onto before doing so. He quickly moved his hands from where they were around her waist, still blushing, to grab Kyubimon's fur, she groaning as he did so, pulling far too hard on the short fur. "Stop it!" Rika insisted. "Can't you do anything right?!" she asked, looking back to Takato, who looked nervously at her.

"What do I grab onto?" he asked, Rika glancing around. He did have a point, she was holding onto her partner's mane, which unfortunately ran out before reaching him, the fox's fur was too short, and there was pretty much nothing else for him to grab onto nearby. She considered the tails, inwardly chuckling at the idea of Takato holding on for dear life, before sighing as Kyubimon shook when leaping down some stairs, displaying the problem as she quickly grabbed his hand with her right. He falling to an injury wasn't worth the effort afterwards, despite the short term amusement of it.

"Grab my shoulders then…" she replied, already irritated by him. Was this such a good idea after all? Takato nervously placed his hands on her shoulders.

'_Okay…don't do anything silly…you're doing this for Guilmon…'_ Takato thought, closing his eyes to try and concentrate to avoid causing further problems. He tried to get his train of thought back on the subject, and opened his eyes again, looking to Rika, which reminded him of why he had closed them. _'She told me to put my hands here…she isn't going to punch me…she isn't going to…who am I kidding? Okay, think about Guilmon…'_ "Where are we going?" he asked.

Rika frowned, looking to her partner. "I was trying to find some sense of a Digimon, but I have had no luck so far…"

"If he's really gone, where do you expect us to find him?" Rika asked Takato, who looked at her blankly, shrugging. She sighed, before noticing his D-Arc, a thought occurring to her. She put her hand out for it, grabbing it and looking at its screen.

"What are you doing?" Takato asked, as Rika tapped the button, bringing up a compass.

"Finding your partner…" she replied, as the arrow spun to settle on a direction. "Head to the left Kyubimon…" she ordered.

* * *

"Sir, the strange field is still in existence, and scans so far have brought up no more data on it…" Riley reported. 

Yamaki frowned, clicking his lighter in annoyance, preparing a PDA below. "I'm sending a program to destroy it…" he ordered, setting up a program he had prepared that cleared away Digital Fields. Yuggoth currently only took out the Wild Ones themselves. The untested program could potentially harm its environment, but Yamaki clearly didn't concern for that sort of thing.

"Is that wise sir?" Tally asked. "Don't we want to find out what it is first?"

"I am doing what I said…" Yamaki snapped.

Riley frowned; they all knew that unapproved programs were forbidden by the rules governing Hypnos' activities. She only hoped that the book wouldn't come down too hard on him, and on them as well. Beyond physical damage, it could cause network damage as well, in some cases a far worse problem.

* * *

"What, there's nothing here?" Rika asked, having leapt off a waiting Kyubimon on a random street. Takato's D-Arc seemed to just point through a gate into a part of woodland that rose up into a hill, a door on the side of a concrete building in it. 

"Hmm…the tunnel…" Takato noted, climbing clumsily off the fox, noticing some of the signs placed around it. Rika glanced to him curiously, nodding as she realised what he meant. They stepped forward, Rika turning in alarm at a static noise, Takato feeling his throat dry as he felt pangs of familiarity.

Sure enough, Kyubimon's legs were now blurred, like Guilmon before, and equally, the blur was growing.

"It's happening to her too…" Takato noted. Rika frowned; she didn't want to lose her partner so quickly.

"I'll call for you when I need you, okay?" she asked. Kyubimon nodded, stepping away before she would have vanished and moving out of sight. Takato nodded, smiling at what they had prevented, albeit reminded of Guilmon's own sudden disappearance. He stepped forward, carefully pushing open the door, which was oddly unlocked, and stepping into the strangely warmer, and thankfully drier, tunnels. There was a small flow of floodwater in them, the tunnel's primary purpose, but it was mostly empty and cavernous, as the pings of water echoed, along with a distant static noise. Rika stepped through the door soon after, as Takato moved to better look down the long tunnel, stretching away far beyond what could be seen into an inky blackness, what they could see dimly lit by lights along its walls.

"Wow, it must go on for miles…" Takato said, beginning to walk as Rika joined him.

"It better not, I'm only helping you thanks to Renamon, got that?" she asked.

"Sure…" Takato replied, noting in his mind that Renamon had convinced her to do so.

"Was that sarcasm?"

Takato held up his hands in defence as he turned nervous. "No, I didn't mean it like that…" he apologised.

"Seriously, what is your deal? Sometimes, when you stand up to me, it looks like you've got a backbone, but the rest of the time you freeze up at the first sign of a threat…"

"I've no idea…" Takato replied, before asking a question that had bugged me. "Speaking of that, yesterday, you said that I was off your list of people you'd think twice about before attacking…why was I on the list?"

"It was a figure of speech Gogglehead…" Rika replied, sighing.

"So…are you going to keep attacking us, even after I get him back?"

Rika snorted, not wanting to give him an obvious answer. "You're not worth it anymore…" she replied.

Takato smiled slightly, glad that he didn't have to worry about that anymore, but still plenty of things bugged me.

"So…can we please work together? You know, like as a team of Tamers?"

"There are only two of us Takato, so not exactly a team…"

"I know but…what do you say?"

"I'm not getting into one of your silly fantasises about Digimon Tamers and everything, maybe we'll fight alongside each other in battle, but I'm not promising you anything…"

"That'll be great…" he replied, thankful for what he had managed, before deciding to shut up. He decided to get back to their current task, as he noticed a strange mass of ice-cube like blobs moving in the distance, jumping back slightly in surprise. Rika smirked.

"See what I mean? You jump at the first sign of any danger, you're such a wimp…" she said. Takato bit his lip, striding forward with determination.

"I bet Guilmon's in there…" he asserted, walking towards the mass.

"If I get injured from this…" Rika warned, following him as they got closer and closer, coming to a stop in front of it. "How can you be sure anyway?"

"I just know it, okay?" Takato replied, Rika frowning at his lack of any visible reason. "I can feel that he's in there…"

Takato's D-Arc suddenly burst into life, a burst of light shooting out from it as it began to beep uncontrollably. Rika's began glowing to match, as she took it out, looking at it in surprise. Takato held his out, pointing it into the energy field.

"What the hell is this?"

"Maybe the digivice connects us to our partners?" Takato suggested.

"The show isn't real!" Rika insisted.

"Everything up until now has proved otherwise…" Takato joked, recalling that he had a Digimon partner, that these were real Digimon that he was dealing with.

"Whatever…let's see how the blob reacts…" Rika dismissed, before putting out her D-Arc's beam to her front, pointing into the field. Takato nodded, copying, as a path split through it.

"It worked!" Takato exclaimed. "Guilmon, I'm coming!" he cheered, running into the field. Rika looked on in shock, before deciding to follow. There was a huge risk that she'd never make it out, but her curiosity wouldn't let her stay back, and neither would her insistence on not letting the Gogglehead get one-up on her. She flipped on her sunglasses, running forward.

"Stupid…" she muttered, as she suddenly felt the ground give way, beginning to float.

"Waaah!" Takato exclaimed, surprised at what was happening.

"Idiot…" Rika noted, cursing herself for following the Gogglehead in there. Takato glanced to her, before raising his Goggles to get a better look at something he saw behind.

"I think I see Guilmon!" he said, before miming swimming, a ridiculous-looking act that surprisingly worked, as he began to move. Rika frowned, before she began to copy him.

"This is crazy…"

"Yeah, it's like in my dreams…"

"Do you ever have any normal dreams?" Rika asked. Takato ignored her as he noticed something up ahead, a burst of red in a sea of pale blues and whites.

"Guilmon!" Takato called, swimming over to his partner, who was suspended by strange cords of data, looking unconscious. "Wake up!" he called.

"Three more hours…" the dino muttered, opening his eyes narrowly. Rika stifled a smile at the reunion as Takato grabbed Guilmon, smiling happily as his eyes watered. She wasn't going to be _that_ soft, particularly not on such a sappy act.

"Don't worry; I'll get you out of there…"

"How exactly?" Rika asked. "We're floating in god knows what, and we don't exactly have any pairs of scissors…"

"Don't be so pessimistic!" Takato insisted. "We'll figure out a way!"

* * *

"We're detecting some unknown data patterns in the field…" Riley reported. 

"Delete everything!" Yamaki insisted. "Leave not a trace of it remaining…"

* * *

Suddenly, a burst of noise and light hit the field, as it began to disintegrate. Rika swam over to the pair quickly. 

"We don't have much time!" she insisted, as he began to panic.

"What can we do?!" Takato asked.

"I don't know but hurry up, it's being erased!" Rika insisted. Guilmon suddenly struggled, the cords breaking as his claw pierced it. Takato pulled him into a hug.

"I thought I was going to lose you…" he said happily.

"It's going to get us! This is all your fault!" Rika insisted, distracting their reunion.

"Hey, you followed me in here!" Takato replied.

"Yeah, but if you and your stupid partner hadn't…" Rika began, pausing, and frowning. "…but…it's not your fault…" she replied, trying to be kinder as she recalled her partner's words. "But what do we do?" she asked, panicking as the field shrunk in size dramatically every second.

"It is…" Takato replied, anger in his voice. "I dragged us all in here, I let myself lose Guilmon because I wasn't strong enough to stop him…but we made it this far, and I'm not losing now!" he insisted, as his D-Arc glowed. Rika looked on in shock, Takato turning to similar shock upon glancing, as Guilmon flashed red, the bright red remaining in his eyes and the mark on his chest as the rest died away.

"What's happening?!" Rika said in alarm, fearful for what she had seen in the past when Guilmon glowed.

"Guilmon, are you okay?" Takato asked, himself fearful.

"I feel weird…" Guilmon replied, as the bright red returned, expanding from him, as Takato and Rika screamed when it reached them.

* * *

"What?!" Yamaki asked, as suddenly the screens blanked out, replaced with a black screen and a huge symbol, one that he had never seen before, except on that dinosaur that was the boy's partner. 

"Power levels in the field are increasing erratically…" Tally quoted.

"Your program has been destroyed…" Riley noted, a tinge of 'I told you so' in her voice.

The emergency lights flickered on as the room plunged into darkness. The pair typed away at their keyboards, to no avail.

"The system has completely crashed…" Tally noted.

Yamaki growled, slamming the bank of computers with his hand. "Stupid Digimon!" he complained.

"The energy field is gone…" Tally reported, as the computers gradually rebooted, one system at a time. "It was erased by whatever that power was…"

'_Maybe if we could harness that energy…it completely eradicated that energy field…'_ Yamaki thought.

* * *

Takato gently opened his eyes, feeling woozy all of a sudden. He felt a heavy weight on his back, and everything seemed dark, the emergency lights having presumably gone off. 

Takato then realised that his head was buried in Rika's shirt, as he felt the fabric. She glared at him as he moved his face, but Guilmon's weight on top of him was painful.

"Guilmon, move!" Takato yelled, as the dinosaur tumbled off him, Takato making a quick (and blushing heavily) move away from what would now be an even worse hazard than he'd ever imagined. Rika looked at him angrily, glaring at him.

"Takatomon, why has your face turned as red as mine?" the dinosaur asked innocently.

"Um…sorry…" Takato said feebly.

Rika "hmph'ed", and crossed her arms. "What the hell happened there anyway?!" she asked, annoyed at the pair, Takato more than Guilmon (despite the fact he seemed to have no involvement in Guilmon's…whatever it was).

"Um…the world kinda…exploded…" Takato replied, glancing around the tunnel, which seemed to have no evidence of the strange field that once dominated this particular part of it.

"Your dino…he glowed, you saw it!" Rika yelled, amazed at Takato's complete randomness, and how he seemed to manage things without even trying.

"Yeah…I did…" Takato replied, turning to his partner. "What happened there?" he asked.

"I don't know…" Guilmon replied, Takato seeing in his eyes that he really had no clue.

"He's done that before too…" Rika noted, crossing her arms. "What is wrong with him?" she asked.

"I know as much as you do…" Takato replied, shrugging. Rika groaned, walking down the tunnel.

"I'm sick of this place, let's go…" she told him.

* * *

Takato yawned, standing in the park, Rika nearby, having surprisingly followed him for some reason, but he decided (for once) to keep his mouth shut and count his blessings. 

Rika looked to him, having surprised herself by following him, although the distance to had been quite short, so she wasn't going to object to it, particularly since she used Kyubimon, leaving him to walk and her to inwardly chuckle at him. Plus, she was eager to find out about Guilmon's power, and hoped she'd at least get a clue.

"Quit yawning and tell me what's wrong with Guilmon…you must know something…" she asked.

"I really don't, he just…he somehow has this power…" he replied.

Rika frowned in annoyance. "Look, you drive me crazy, but I'm also not stupid enough to miss an opportunity to find out more here, so I'm going to give you my cell phone number…definitely not my home number, my Grandma isn't continuing her crazy mad ideas that we're boyfriend and girlfriend…" she told him, putting out her hand. "Give me a piece of paper…"

Takato looked at her curiously, before reluctantly passing his notebook and a pencil. She wrote on it, before pausing and glaring at him.

"Now, this number is only for something _real_…not for if you want to 'hang out', not for if you need 'advice', only if something big happens, and you better call me if it does, or the next time I see you…" she punched her fist into her hand to demonstrate, smirking when he gulped. _'He is funny…just not in his jokes…'_ she thought.

"Okay…" he replied, putting his hand out to take it as she passed it to him. She paused, something catching her eye as she took it back, flicking through the pages with bewildered eyes. "What are you doing?" Takato asked nervously.

Rika's eyebrows rose as she found a picture of Guilmon, notes on it. She glanced up to him bewildered, as she moved through the pages. "What is this?" she asked.

"Um…it's the pages of notes and pictures that my D-Arc scanned to make Guilmon's digi-egg…" Takato replied.

"So you really created him then?"

"Um…yeah, somehow…"

Rika flicked to the next page, before looking at her in surprise. "What the hell, this page is just scribbles?!"

"Yeah, I got kinda bored…it scanned that page too for some reason…I don't think it did anything…at least, I hope not…"

Rika frowned, passing him back the notebook. "Now, your number…"

"Um, I don't have a cell phone…"

"Then put down your home number and give me the damn bit of paper so I can go home…"

Takato nodded, quickly writing it out, ripping the previously-blank page from the book and passing it to her. She put the sheet in her pocket, before turning and walking away.

"See ya Gogglehead…" she said, waving slightly with one hand.

"Yeah, see ya…" Takato replied, as Kyubimon followed her Tamer.

"Bye Renamon!" Guilmon called dumbly, receiving nothing but a grunt from the fox.

'_So are we friends…or fellow Tamers…or what? This is getting really confusing…' _Takato thought.

"You were really brave in there…" Guilmon noted.

"Yeah, you too…hopefully I'll keep being like that, looks like things are unfortunately going to get scarier around here…." _'…Rika being even this friendly is terrifying enough…'_

"Yeah…" Guilmon answered.

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

Right, as for the whole update situation, since I've ended up with a backlog of chapters for Dimensions, only publishing one a day even though at one point I was writing two, I've been able to concentrate on this with my spare time. 

However, since this 12500 word Deviations chapter has taken two days to write on its own (longest chapter ever), expect a bit of a slower upload rate for both fics after Chapter 12 of Dimensions (although Chapter 14 doesn't need much more to finish, after which I'll be able to put up Chapter 13). I'll try to get another chapter of this done by Sunday, but don't hold your hopes up.

Anyway, I hope you liked this interesting attempt at splicing two episodes into one (I certainly enjoyed writing it), and normal service will be resumed next time (well, as normal as a 'What If' fic can be anyway).

Next time…

How are Takato and Rika going to work together, if at all? What's up with Guilmon? And most importantly of all, is Rika really going to be nicer from now on?

Find out in 'Dates, Demons and Digivolutions', Chapter Six of Deviations.


	6. Dates, Demons and Digivolutions

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story (except where stated).

* * *

**DEVIATIONS**

_**Chapter 6**_

_Dates, Demons and Digivolutions_

* * *

That night, Takato secretly stayed awake far later than his parents would let him. He hoped his parents were still overjoyed by his return home, apparently they were about to call the police. He simply couldn't sleep; he wasn't tired, despite being exhausted earlier. The day's events had scared him about losing Guilmon, exhausted him in his searches, overjoyed him in finding Guilmon and terrified him in Rika's sudden changes. 

What had happened to her anyway? At one point, she would have said no to stopping pursuing his partner, but something had changed. She had learnt something, whatever it was, from Renamon.

It hadn't made _that_ much difference in how she acted, she still acted in much the same way, but she suddenly seemed nicer during the events of yesterday. Only slightly, to a degree that anyone new to her would still think her terrible, but it was an improvement on before. Despite his usual wishes for them to be a team and all, it was at least good to see that she wouldn't be attacking him anymore, and that there was the possibility of fighting alongside one another, particularly in the tougher battles. Since she now had a partner capable of champion level, it'd definitely help, although he hoped he wouldn't be left behind at all. Rika would be likely to take that kind of attitude, and he'd just have to deal with it…

'…_until Guilmon digivolved in a really cool yet totally emotional battle!'_ he thought, smiling widely.

"_**I'm not getting into one of your silly fantasises about Digimon Tamers and everything…"**_

Takato chuckled; he considered that that should be written on a poster on his wall to remind him, before thinking that something else would be better.

"_**This isn't the TV show you idiot!"**_

Still, he hoped that Guilmon would digivolve soon, but also considered that he'd have to draw his partner's champion form. He'd learnt a lot of lessons from drawing Guilmon, and he was going to make the champion form even better.

"Red as always…" he whispered, trying not to wake his parents with his endless energy, as he took his red pencil and continued to fill in his lines. He'd drawn a much larger Guilmon, a more bulky, muscular form, with black lines crossing his skin, much like Guilmon's. He had spikes on his back, and all in all the drawing was rather crude, as more tiredness began to draw on at this later hour.

He frowned, something coming to mind as he stared at the image. He'd made a big mistake, one that would cause him big problems later.

"Great, now I can't ride on his back…" he complained. "Compared to Kyubimon, he'd be useless…"

He sat, resting his head on his hand, elbow propped by the table.

"Meh, I'll start again tomorrow…I still need a name though…lets see, I called his rookie form Guilmon…I like the 'g' thing, and he grew, so Grewmon…Growmon…Growlmon! Growlmon!"

A sharp thumping came on the wall. "Takato, are you still awake?!" came his mother's annoyed voice. Takato gulped, switching off the lights, leaping into his bed and pulling up the covers. He faked a yawn, and then changed his voice to be tired and groggy, although it wasn't completely convincing all the same.

"…yes Mom…" he called, as he begun to try to sleep. _'Please no more dreams about Rika…'_ he thought, smiling nervously at the thought. _'I'm not sure how I'd explain it again…I'd be knocked unconscious for the next century…'_

* * *

Meanwhile, a man was sitting on a bench, doing the complete opposite of Takato and trying to think of the woman on his mind. She sat next to him on the bench, the silences far less often and a complete lack of uncomfortable silences at all. 

"It's cold, out here…" the woman noted.

"A fire would be nice…" the man replied.

"Your wish is my command! BADA BOOM!"

The woman screamed while the man looked on in shock, a fireball going between their heads. Impmon leapt onto the seat back, as they stood up. He laughed at them, as they ran.

* * *

Like Tamer like partner, and Takato and Guilmon were no exception. Rather than drawing, however, Guilmon was doing his own favourite past-time…eating. 

Oh, and digging.

"Yay, I found it…" he cheered, pulling out a box of bread he had buried in the wall for reasons that would never be known by anyone. He smiled widely, beginning to scoff them down, a loaf bouncing away behind. Not one to let his food escape without eating it, he ran after it, box still in hand, as it rolled away and through the bars. He looked up as a red gloved hand grabbed it, one conjoined to a purple imp.

"Geez, dis tastes like crap, that bakery has gotta get its act together if it wants to keep in business…" he complained, eating it as Guilmon watched, bewildered.

The hand stretched through the bars again, Guilmon moving back defensively.

"It may be crap, but it's free food, so gimme another one! Or several!" he ordered.

"Ah…okay…" Guilmon replied, unaware of the fact that Impmon planned to eat the whole box, Guilmon continuing to pass them out.

"More!" he ordered time and time again, Guilmon continuing to put bread through the bars.

"Um…do you mind if I keep some, Takatomon won't be back until the morning?"

"You sound so stupid with your little Takatomon! You're in a cage my lumpish friend!" he taunted, leaping on top of the bars. "Are ya really happy being cooped up in here all the time like an animal at the zoo?"

"Yeah, I am…Takatomon's my friend and I don't see any problem with it…"

Impmon choked all of a sudden, falling off the bars. "What did ya just go and say?" he asked, standing up. Guilmon went to open his mouth, quivering in fear slightly. "Takato's yer friend? Wrong buddy, friends don't lock their friends up in cages!" he taunted. "You've gone and made me sick to my stomach…"

"Maybe you should keep your mouth shut then…" a voice said, as Impmon turned to see a shadow.

"Aw nuts…"

"DIAMOND STORM!"

'_Oh oh…Renamon, do I run or do I stay? Takatomon, you really have to explain these things more…'_ Guilmon panicked, as Impmon ran for it. Renamon smirked, amused at the events unfolding. She glanced to the dino, noticing his confusion and curiosity.

"Um…hi Renamon…" he greeted, Renamon noticing that he and his partner seemed to have become alike in several ways. Had she become like that with Rika?

She hoped that vice versa had happened in the very least; at least this dinosaur along with his partner had taught her about how Tamers and partners should treat each other, albeit her relationship with Rika was far less of her being a pet and far more a contemporary.

She smiled at his confusion, finding it amusing. "I am not going to attack you…" she said, although there was still a tone in her voice that worried Guilmon slightly. Maybe it was simply being attacked by her in the past, although the bulk of his memories of the battles themselves were hazy or completely missing, a strange problem he seemed to have.

"Okay…" Guilmon replied. "Why are you here?" he asked, not realising how unintentionally blunt his question seemed.

Renamon narrowed her eyes. Was this weakling suggesting that she was watching him in some way? "I am checking the area for threats, as I do regularly…"

"Okay…" Guilmon replied, Renamon surprised at how he was instantly okay with that, where others would be asking further questions.

Renamon frowned, vanishing into thin air. Guilmon looked around, wondering where she had gone.

"Um…bye…" he muttered, before returning to his bread.

* * *

A new day dawned in Tokyo, and so it was back to school for both of its Tamers. Rika's school was simply snotty as always, so Takato's was far more interesting, as Mrs Asagi gave some news to the children. 

"Listen up class; there have been numerous reports of a child playing in Shinjuku Park after dark…" Gasps went out around the class at what Mrs Asagi had said, including Takato's.

'_Hey, I was only out there with Guilmon, for only about ten minutes, how did anyone see us? And wasn't Rika there too for some of the time? And Guilmon isn't exactly unnoticeable…'_ Takato thought, even mooting the concept of it being Hypnos' attempts to capture him, his partner, or his fellow tamer and her partner, although he knew that the later two would once again put up a fight, and probably not be captured in the first place if the attempt were to happen again.

"I don't think I need to remind you; no wandering around after dark, okay?" Mrs Asagi continued.

"Okay!" came the reply from the class.

"Good…I have to go get more headache tablets…" she noted, walking out of the class for a second.

"Antisocial Takato as ever…" someone muttered.

"I've seen him running around the park on his own, what's he doing?"

"I heard of someone scaring couples…"

"Scaring couples? That's terrible…"

"Yeah, while they're kissing, can you believe it?"

"Must've been a boy…"

"They better fess up…"

"Hey, don't always blame us…"

"Yeah, I heard it was a pyromaniac…"

"Playing with fire too? Geez, someone has really turned antisocial…"

"Doesn't sound like Takato…"

"Meh, what do you know, you've never tried to talk to him…"

"Neither have you…"

"Yeah, but I heard everything via the rumour-vine…"

"Are all rumours necessarily true?"

"When they're good they are…"

"Sounds like a cool plan to me…"

"How do we know it wasn't you then?"

"Because my mom would ground me for weeks afterwards…"

Takato, groaning, put his head down on the table; the comments around the class were less than reassuring, and they had got louder as they'd gone on. He lifted his head as he saw Mrs Asagi enter and the class more or less silenced, his picture of Guilmon catching his eye.

'_Oh Guilmon, what have you done this time?'_ he thought.

* * *

Henry and Takato once again were eating their lunch outside on this September day, as the playground was a hive of activity, rumours bustling about. Takato frowned, he hoped that everyone hadn't believed it was him, but he still was concerned about Guilmon. Another thought came to his mind, however. 

"What if it was Calumon?" he said, looking to Henry.

"I don't know, he doesn't exactly seem like the kind to throw fireballs at people."

"Yeah, I see your point…"

"I don't even think he has any attacks…plus, I wouldn't expect everyone to scream and run at him, he doesn't exactly look threatening…"

"Yeah, he'd just ask to play…"

"Or for food…"

Takato chuckled, Henry had a point, it was surprising but, of all the things he had seen Digimon do, eating was clearly the favourite for most of them. Then again, he was talking about two out of three Digimon that he knew well enough for that, and Renamon seemed to be the opposite. Henry looked at him concerned, recalling something that he knew Takato should hear, although also knowing that he couldn't mention knowing about Guilmon in doing so. Regardless, at some point, he would have to find where Guilmon was hidden, then he could tell Takato that he knew about his partner without the Gogglehead making up some bizarre excuse that was, albeit unconvincing, hard to question without pressing the matter too hard.

"By the way, I heard the principal telling the teachers that they have to start patrolling the park tonight…"

Takato's expression changed to one of alarm. "But they'll find…Calumon for sure…"

Henry frowned, it was clear to him that Guilmon was hidden in the park, but where? It was far too large for him to check every potential place, and he didn't have that much time to do so. Plus, he worried about Takato finding him snooping around, and that could only hinder his attempts at finding out about the red dino. "Maybe you should try to find him and hide him…"

"Yeah, or at least tell him to keep out of the park for a few days at night…"

Takato knew that he couldn't do that with Guilmon, and Henry's advice, while intended to be helpful, would only really be effective with Calumon. He only hoped that it really wasn't Guilmon that was scaring the couples. Takato began to think about what he needed to do.

He'd have to prove Guilmon innocent, but how? Maybe he could go into the park at night and see if it happened to him. But this 'child' only seemed to go after couples. Maybe he and Rika could…

Takato blushed lightly, confusing a Henry who had no idea of what he was thinking, as he dismissed the proposal. Rika would never agree, and it wouldn't work either in all eventuality, if it was Guilmon then he'd leap at Takato, and if it were another Digimon, Rika would just enter into a battle.

'_What's Takato thinking about?'_ Henry pondered, looking with bewildered eyes at Takato's changing expressions. "Yen for your thoughts?" he asked.

"Um…nothing, don't worry…"

Henry frowned; Takato must've been thinking about Guilmon, no-one would naturally make those expressions without thinking. But, in that case, why did he blush? What was embarrassing?

* * *

"Another Digital Anomaly reported by sensors…" Tally reported. 

"Another wild one I suppose…" Yamaki muttered, anger in his voice. "Put a tracer on it Riley, as always…" he ordered.

Riley began to type, before frowning. "It's moving away, it won't lock…"

'_We need a different approach…' _Yamaki thought.

* * *

Takato bent over, looking at what his partner was currently doing upon his arrival at the hideout. He'd only dropped by earlier to give him bread, bread that was now being buried for reasons known only to Guilmon. Upon his return after playing cards with Henry, he had decided to talk to Guilmon about what had been bugging him, but Guilmon's current actions had sidetracked him. 

"Why are you burying your dinner?" he asked.

"Then I can dig it up and eat it later…"

"I had to ask, didn't I…logic isn't your specialty…"

"Nope…" Guilmon replied.

"Guilmon, can you promise me that you'll stay here tonight?"

"Okay…"

"Good…" Takato replied, hoping that Guilmon had understood his question. "I've got to go now, bye…"

"Bye…"

Takato decided not to mention exactly why he wanted Guilmon to stay here, to avoid giving him any ideas. He left the hideout, beginning to run home. _'I am so late…please listen, just this once Guilmon…'_

* * *

"I don't see why we have to do this; it was just a childish prank. Why isn't the Principal here?" Mrs Asagi asked, strolling through the park with a flashlight in hand. She had ended up having to patrol alongside Mr Mori, a timid man who clearly had feelings for the female teacher. 

"But we must see to the moral safety of our students, they're so impressionable at such a young age, so innocent…" Mr Mori replied, a tone of surprise in his voice at Mrs Asagi's attitude. He glanced around, seeing couples kissing and walking around, hand in hand, his pace slowing. "…and this…isn't! Mrs Asagi!" he called, catching up with the woman who continued to walk at her normal pace.

"Oh Mori, will you grow up?" she groaned.

"Mrs Asagi…" the male teacher began, causing Mrs Asagi to stop and groan in annoyance, throwing her hands down. Why was she forced to put up with so many annoying people, who didn't listen to her, even if they had good intentions? Mr Mori, Takato, not to mention some of the worse students in her class who clearly didn't have good intentions at all, and never had. "It's not safe for a woman alone!" Mr Mori continued, stopping as Mrs Asagi turned her head slightly.

"Mr Mori…" she spoke strongly

"Um, yes?" he replied nervously.

Mrs Asagi swallowed her annoyance, but it still remained in her voice. "I think I…left my oven on or something, I need to get home right away…" she replied, beginning to walk away. She groaned as Mr Mori continued to talk.

"Wait, don't go! Who will protect the children?!" he panicked, looking around.

* * *

"Now where did I bury my dinner…?" Guilmon muttered, digging away. A whistle came from the door, and he turned to see the purple Imp once again. "Hi!" he greeted. "Did you come for more bread? Sorry, but I just buried it…" 

"Geez, you're a dumbass, hoping it'll grow are we?"

"Hmm…I never thought of that…"

"I was making fun of ya, ya red dumball! But of course, how could ya learn anything all cooped up in here? Come on, let's go have some real fun!"

"Huh? Me go with you?"

"That is correct…if you're not afraid of that dark, I mean…"

"I'm not afraid!" Guilmon cheered.

"Good grief, chicken…"

"What's chicken? I should ask Takatomon if I can eat it…Takatomon also said that I've got to stay inside…"

"Pah, listening to your little Tamer about everything, ya make me sick!"

"But Takato is always right!"

"What if he told ya to stab yourself in the foot with your big dumbass claws, would ya do it?"

"Um…"

"Exactly, so why listen to him this time?"

"Um…"

"Forget it, you're no fun…" Impmon muttered, walking away.

"But I am fun, really…" Guilmon replied, moving the lock with his claw. "Wait for me!" he called.

* * *

"Hmm…something…doesn't feel right…" Takato muttered, walking along with his head bowed, considering Guilmon. Guilmon only seemed to consciously understand things when Takato looked him right in the eye, and earlier he had been distracted by digging. He only hoped that the dino had listened to him. Takato paused, seeing a shadow and looking up to see a police officer looking down patronisingly at him. 

"Boy…" an intimidating voice said. "I say, are you the one?"

"Err…the one?"

"The one interrupting the process of human courtship…"

'_What is this guy talking about? I thought policemen knew how to make things clear…' _"Err…I don't know…"

"Boy, are you or are you not interfering with the activities of consenting adults?" he continued to question.

"What part don't you understand son?"

"All of it…"

Mrs Asagi, flashlight in hand, crossed the top of a set of stairs nearby, hearing a familiar voice, and its all too familiar nervous way of talking.

"You meant to say you don't understand your native tongue boy?"

"Yes sir…I mean no sir…I mean…whatever you want, and I mean that sir…"

"Boy, you're starting to annoy me…"

"Me too…"

Mrs Asagi groaned, walking down the stairs. _'Oh Takato, will you never learn…'_ she thought, somewhat surprised to see him out at this hour. Then again, Takato wasn't exactly the kind to be involved in what the allegations were, he seemed far too naïve, and hardly the kind to start playing with fire. She decided to intervene before things escalated, and Takato ended up in trouble for saying something in a bad way to the police officer, who began to open his mouth again as Mrs Asagi reached the foot of the steps.

"Takato I am so sorry about that…" she begun, confusing both officer and Gogglehead.

'_This couldn't get any worse…'_ Takato thought. _'No wait, Rika could turn up and make things a helluva lot worse…or Calumon…what is Mrs Asagi talking about anyway?'_

"You see officer; I was walking him home…when we ran into one of my friends…"

'_Mrs Asagi has friends?! Wait, get back on topic Gogglehead…oh great, now I'm starting to think like Rika…'_

* * *

"Are we there yet?" 

"No…"

"Are we there yet?"

"No…"

"Are we…"

"No!" Impmon insisted, turning around to face the dino. "Oh wait, yes…" he said mischievously, coming to a bush and poking his head out, Guilmon copying soon after.

"Excuse me, but am I suppose to be having fun?" Guilmon asked.

"Just watch and learn…" Impmon replied, ducking out of the bush as Guilmon copied. He gestured for the dino to stay back, while he headed forward to a couple embracing in front of a statue. He smirked, raising a haunting red flame that swirled around them.

They screamed, as he leapt out of the bush, roaring. They ran, as Impmon laughed, leaping into the path.

"That was priceless!"

"Is that it?" Guilmon asked, surprising the Imp, who continued to laugh. "I don't get it, I'm going home…" he added, turning and walking away down the path. Impmon stopped laughing and turned.

"Hey, where you going, I'm just getting warmed up?!" he yelled, before groaning again.

"No, blown up is more accurate…DIAMOND STORM!"

Impmon cursed as he leapt aside, Renamon leaping from a tree and landing in the path. Impmon turned around, hands as fists shaken at the fox.

"Hey, what is your problem?! Are you spying on me or something?!"

"I am monitoring the neighbourhood, and I see it is you who Rika's grandma mentioned…scaring couples, you are more pathetic than I thought…"

"Hey, I'm not pathetic, I'm better than all of you!"

Renamon chuckled, vanishing, leaving an annoyed Impmon behind.

"Hey, come back here and fight with me!" he insisted, waving his fist to the air.

* * *

"Thank you Mrs Asagi…" Takato said, following his teacher with the flashlight through the park. "Um…I don't know what to say…" 

"Nothing new there Takato…" the teacher replied, Takato chuckling a nervous laugh. "Just, say you'll stay out of the park at night from now on…"

"Yes ma'am…but, it wasn't me you know…"

She smiled, turning to him. "I never said that you were Takato, you may be antisocial at times but you're not the kind to do something like that…"

"Thanks, I guess…"

"You have to admit though; it looks kind of suspicious…"

'_What's more suspicious than a big red dinosaur?'_ he worried.

Takato frowned, picturing Takato being captured by Hypnos, or the police, or anyone. He couldn't bear losing him again. Or worse, they'd shoot him, and think him a threat. Guilmon wasn't a threat to anything but bread.

"I won't let them do it!" he called out loud, not noticing what he'd done, as he turned and ran away from his teacher.

"Takato!" Mrs Asagi said in surprise, watching him run away into the dark._'What's wrong with him?'_

'_I must be the worst Tamer ever…why'd I make him so big and unwieldy? Why not something small and portable, like Calumon is? Or able to vanish like Renamon? Why didn't I just use an existing Digimon like Terriermon or Agumon, they'd probably listen to me more?!'_

He reached the hideout, his suspicions confirmed as he stared into the empty hut.

"Guilmon!" he called, holding onto the bars, desperation and anger growing by the second. "No, you promise me you wouldn't leave, why do you never listen to me?!"

Tears began to well in his eyes as he shook the bars with his quivering hands.

"I'll never see him again, until Hypnos turns up at my door to question me or worse…"

"Who are you talking to?" Guilmon asked, returning from his misadventure with the imp. "You have a new friend?" he asked, as Takato turned around in surprise, both happy and annoyed at the same time. The happiness faded, as Takato walked up to his partner.

"Where the hell have you been, you promised you'd stay in there? You scared me to death…"

"Oh Takatomon I wish you had been there…I scared some people and they screamed really loud and ran away but anyway it wasn't any fun so I came home and here I am!"

Takato was speechless; his greatest fear about the events had come true. "I can't believe it, it really was you…" he said, emotions flooding into him. "That's it, Guilmon, I just can't take this anymore!" he yelled. "I've had it with you, you never listen to me, you continually try to escape and now you deliberately disobey me! I've had it!" he yelled, running past his confused partner and away from the hideout.

"Hmm…oh…what…Takatomon? What did I do wrong?" he said, his ears dipping in sadness.

* * *

A new day dawned, the typical happiness replaced with anger and sadness for the Tamer and partner, although for the most point the later lacked the anger half. Guilmon went hungry, as Takato didn't turn up that morning, and continued to be bugged by Impmon, and Calumon's attempts at cheering him up, all day. 

Meanwhile, for the Tamer, it had also been a bad day. Mrs Asagi had asked him about the previous day, and he couldn't think of a reply, leading to a detention. He was still mad with Guilmon, and Henry noticed it, his usual cheery self vanishing.

As for Renamon, she told Rika about what she had seen the previous day, at her home before school on that new day.

"So Impmon was the nut-job scaring couples that my grandma mentioned?" Rika asked, checking what Renamon had told her.

"Yes, and Takato and Guilmon had a large fall out yesterday…Takato thinks that it was Guilmon…"

"I thought you destroyed Impmon…"

"I did not, but I have continued to track his actions…he lacks a Tamer, and he seems to persist in annoying Calumon and Guilmon…"

"So why exactly should I care?"

"I thought that you might consider intervening…"

"Why? I couldn't care less about the Gogglehead. If he's going to harm his chances as a Tamer by falling out with his partner then he can, I have better things to do…" Rika asserted, grabbing her bag and walking through the door of her room, heading to school. Renamon nodded, and frowned.

'_I have a feeling this may affect us too Rika…particularly if we do not have support in battle…'_

She vanished into thin air once again.

* * *

Takato, finished with his detention, put his books away in his bag. Normally he'd be eager to see Guilmon, and hence annoyed at having a detention, but this time, he simply wasn't. Guilmon had disobeyed him time and time again, and he had had it up to here with him. Henry watched him, concerned, as he stormed out of the school, having decided to wait so he could track him. 

'_Takato's been acting really strange, is this about Guilmon?'_ he thought, following Takato into the park.

To his annoyance, in all the time he was following him, Takato never visited Guilmon, and continually seemed to be in a foul mood. What had gotten him so worked up?

Henry frowned, checking his watch. He had to go to his martial arts school; perhaps he could talk to his sensei, although he knew it wouldn't be in detail about anything. Hopefully, he'd be able to help Takato in some way, but he'd have to know what the problem was first.

* * *

Guilmon frowned, the efforts of the ever-cheery Calumon in front of him lacking their effect. 

"We could play a game?"

Guilmon groaned. "Nothing's fun without Takatomon…" he complained.

Calumon frowned. "Come on, I want to have some fun! I'm bored, Impmon's a meanie and I hate him chasing me!" he ranted. "Let's play!"

"No…"

Calumon groaned. "Then I'll go find some fun!" he cheered, his boredom subsiding as he danced out of the door. Guilmon groaned.

"Everyone's left me…" he moaned.

* * *

Impmon kicked a can in anger as the night once again drew on. The day had been nothing but boring since Guilmon had pooh-poohed him the day before. 

'_I'm fun! I'm tons of fun! Far better than any pathetic human could ever be!'_

He, for once, didn't feel like scaring couples that evening. He cursed the red dino once again, for taking away his source of fun.

He felt a tingling in his skin, as he sensed a Digimon bioemerging nearby. He looked around, overjoyed at his chance to either have a fight or get a friend to get payback on those humans and their pathetic Digimon, until he spotted a fog appearing nearby, a massive figure within it. He smiled widely, beginning to run.

"Huh?" came a voice, and he paused, turning around to face a blue haired boy, looking at him curiously.

"What are you looking at?" Impmon threatened.

"You're a Digimon, right?" Henry asked.

"Yeah, what's it to ya?"

'_They're appearing everywhere…'_ Henry thought, as Impmon's anger grew.

"Hello? Don't just say hello and then ignore me, ask me something if you're going to or buzz off!" Impmon replied.

"Do you have a Tamer?" Henry asked. Impmon growled.

"I'd never have a pathetic human, now buzz off or I'll BADA BOOM!" he yelled, throwing a fireball at the boy who ducked. Impmon laughed, before continuing on his trail towards the bioemergence. Henry frowned, looking to where he was running to see the fog.

"That can't be good…" he muttered. "I have to see this…" he added, heading to find a safe vantage point on the battle.

* * *

"Hey, watcha doing there four eyes?" Impmon taunted, looking into those eyes from his vantage point on a shrine. The demon was enshrouded in fog, trapped by it. His two pairs of eyes were complimented by a large black dragon-like form, and wings. 

The beast growled, and Impmon laughed.

"Aw, what's wrong, little baby can't get out of the mean ol' fog?" he mocked, before pointing to the creature. "Ha ha, guess you're not so tough now, eh four eyes?" he asked teasingly. "And you don't even say a thing!" he added, blowing a raspberry at the beast.

'_What is he trying to do?'_ thought Henry, observing Impmon's strange taunting behaviour.

The beast growled louder, drawing his jaws wide as he struggled to wait.

"Aw, still can't escape?" Impmon asked. He laughed so hard his eyes closed, a mistake when he reopened them as the digimon started to escape the mist.

'_I think that's a Devidramon…' _Henry thought, recalling the card. _'He's going to be mad now…'_

Impmon tried to grovel his way out of the situation. "Oh come on, I didn't mean it, I'm laughing with ya!" he yelled, as a claw swatted him into a patch of long grass.

Henry looked on in fear as the mothbitten wings of the beast flapped, and he rose into the air. He had to follow, to see the battle and hopefully give him some answers to his questions. He began to run from his position, trying to follow the flying beast.

"Uh oh…" Impmon exclaimed, poking his head out of the bush. "This is what's called a tactical error…"

* * *

Guilmon sniffed the air, sensing a Digimon in the area. He moaned at his lack of Takato to help, as he carefully opened the bars of his cage, running out. 

Takato or no Takato, he had to help.

* * *

Mrs Asagi frowned; she was back out on patrolling duties, although she had purposefully lost Mr Mori a way back. She sincerely hoped this evening would be less eventful, there were about a million other things she would rather be doing right now. She waved her flashlight around, considering the brunette she had 'rescued' from the police officer yesterday. She sincerely hoped he'd heeded her words, but even with a detention he still wouldn't explain his escaping from her yesterday. It was something she'd need to find out soon, there was in general something very strange about Takato lately, stranger than usual, and that was saying a lot. 

She turned as a sound approached, and quaked in fear as a large black dragon-like serpent flew over her. The wind ruffled through the trees, leaves touching the ground softly as she watched the beast fly away.

"That…was no pigeon…" she exclaimed.

The beast flew through the sky, the wind in its wake as it flew low over buildings ripping off signs and roof tiles as citizens looked up in fear. Takato saw it fly overhead, and knew he had to do something, before it hurt someone, even possibly his partner.

"Guilmon!" he exclaimed, running faster.

* * *

Rika placed a card on the table, building her strategies that she would use. As she slimmed down the number of cards she used each battle, her strategies had become simpler, but upon Renamon's words, she had begun to build a new set of tactics, for dealing with whatever tried to attack her. She ordered the cards into a set, so they could easily be accessed from her card holder on her rear of her belt. 

Renamon materialised behind her. "Ready to fight Rika?" she asked.

"Of course…" Rika replied, gathering her cards into her holder. Card number one of the set was a digivolution card; it would be a perfect opener for any battle. She clipped her D-Arc onto her belt.

* * *

Devidramon had risen, now flying around office buildings, before looking out upon the city, landing on a roof, that of the Tokyo Metropolitan building. "Who out there dares fight me?" he asked. "In this pathetic world of humans, no-one is worthy of defeating me…" 

His glance moved downwards, spying a red figure crossing a road bridge below. His eyes narrowed, as he roared, swooping down as the figure stopped, looking up.

* * *

Yamaki clicked his lighter as the beast swept past the window. "This is becoming a personal embarrassment…"

* * *

Henry stopped for breath as he joined the crowds on the road, watching the beast and the dinosaur face off. He noticed Takato arrive on the bridge nearby. 

"Guilmon!" Takato called from nearby, on the path of the park leading up to the bridge. He had his D-Arc with compass activated in hand, as the dino ducked to avoid the beast swooping over him. The beast flew into the air again, as Takato's D-Arc changed to bring up data on the beast. "Devidramon, Virus Type, Champion Level, attacks Crimson Claw, Dead Eyes, Dark Gale and Black Bite…" he read.

Guilmon growled, eyes feral as he faced off with his foe, who growled in response.

Takato knew that there was going to be a battle. But could he trust Guilmon? The same Guilmon who ran off from him, who went berserk in battle, who deliberately disobeyed his orders. He was paralysed by it, as he stood, D-Arc in hand, watching the staring contest.

Rika arrived on the other side of the bridge to Henry, looking up at the beast and pausing in awe, before reaching for her D-Arc. "Renamon…" she called.

"Not this time…" her partner replied. "This is Guilmon's battle, in exactly the same way that we take battles for ourselves…" she added, Rika cursing herself for forcing herself into a situation where she couldn't join in without being a hypocrite.

Rika groaned. "And Gogglehead is, as always, right in the middle of it all…how does he manage it?" she asked rhetorically.

Renamon frowned. She knew that Rika wanted to fight, but she also knew that she couldn't intervene in this battle. Perhaps one day, when they would as Tamers ask each other for help, but for now, they would keep back until anything got too dangerous.

"PYRO SPHERE!" Guilmon roared, but his fireball was swatted aside by the demon, who then took off into the air.

"Right, time to be a proper Tamer…" Takato decided, drawing his cards out. "DIGI-MODIFY…Power Activate!" he called, Guilmon roaring as the fireball flew forth from his mouth. The demon closed his wings to block, laughing menacingly at the pair.

'_Is Takatomon my friend again now?'_ Guilmon thought.

"I thought you said they were having an argument…" Rika noted.

"Maybe they are putting it aside for this battle…" Renamon mooted.

"That should've worked!" Takato complained, drawing another card, eyes fierce with determination as he saw what it was. "DIGI-MODIFY…Hyper Wing Activate!" he called, wings materialising on the saurian's back.

"Does he just use random cards?" Henry asked himself.

"No idea…" replied Calumon, walking up near him. "Why are they fighting?" he asked.

Guilmon flew towards Devidramon, growling, before being swatted aside and tumbling into a building.

"No way!" Takato exclaimed.

"What is he doing?" Rika questioned. "Is he just using whatever cards he gets from his pocket first?" she added.

"If he uses too many cards he'll use up all of Guilmon's energy…" Renamon noted.

"Yeah, and they'll become less effective too" Rika replied.

Guilmon's wings vanished and he fell to the ground, as Takato used the next card, his voice now turning far more nervous as his determination faded. "DIGI-MODIFY…Speed Activate!"

Devidramon's claw flew out, as Guilmon quickly sped away, moving to the dragon's side. The claw went into the building, as Guilmon was swatted away by the dragon's large tail.

"Speed's not going to help him here, what the hell is Gogglehead doing?" Rika complained.

Renamon frowned, looking at the pair. In all of her battles with and alongside the pair, she'd always noticed glanced between them of reassurance, a feeling that they were a pair, but here, they felt so disjoined. Takato's cards, apart from arbitrarily increasing or changing elements of Guilmon, seemed to completely mismatch the battle. Takato was simply not fighting alongside Guilmon at all, he was more of an observer.

"He's his own worst enemy…" Rika summed it up. Renamon looked to her, realisation dawning on her from what she had witnessed the previous day.

"I know why Rika…" she began, Rika looking to her curiously.

Guilmon was thrown to the ground, groaning in pain. "Give up yet?" Devidramon taunted, as the beast laughed.

"Get off of him!" Takato called. Henry raised an eyebrow, Takato seemed to be lacking his usual…well, he was lacking him in this battle. He seemed so off-personality, blundering as always, but Henry had always seen him and Guilmon as a pair in battle, and here they were, not even helping each other. Takato's call was one of battle strategy, albeit flawed, rather than caring. What had happened between them?

Devidramon pummelled Guilmon with each fist in turn, as Takato looked on helpless.

* * *

"This is going great, look at him! Left, right, left, right!" Impmon laughed, standing on a road-sign, thinking he was somehow part of this battle.

* * *

Guilmon was thrown against a wall, and Takato felt pain of the heart. Pain of seeing Guilmon in pain, and yet feeling that he couldn't help him. Couldn't trust him. Maybe it was how they met in the first place, Guilmon always had to build his trust with Takato, after they first met and the dino scared the boy to death. They never really had it easy, and their friendship got them through it. But now…it was gone, Guilmon was weak, and was about to become nothing more than data, a task which Rika had attempted several times. 

"Takato…" Guilmon muttered, as his Tamer watched speechless. Devidramon growled, snapping Takato out of it, as he fumbled around in his pockets.

'_I'm running out of cards…'_ he thought, as they dropped to the ground, and he fumbled through them, looking for something.

Rika arrived on the path, looking at the boy who once had seemed to have good luck in battle. But it hadn't run out, he'd made himself lose. He and Guilmon were once an example that Rika and Renamon eventually followed to some extent.

She'd considered not helping him, not telling him what Renamon had told her, but she couldn't. Not seeing this, not with all the similarities to her own battles recently alongside Renamon and Kyubimon. The pangs of similarity to the battle with Allomon were clear, Renamon was weak in that battle because Rika herself didn't believe in her, and the same was happening here with Takato and Guilmon. Had it been another situation, the role reversal would've been amusing, but right now she had to snap them out of it.

"Gogglehead, do you really think that Guilmon did it?" she asked, standing near him. He looked up, confused slightly.

"Huh?" he said, his voice nervous and panicky.

"Renamon says that it was this pathetic little rookie called Impmon…" she told him. Takato's expression changed from confusion to regret, as he stood up and looked to his partner.

"And I…I didn't trust him…I didn't listen to him…" Takato muttered. "Guilmon, you have to get up…" he said, seeing Guilmon pressed against the wall by Devidramon's claw.

Rika frowned the oddity of the role reversal, she was telling Takato about being nice to your digimon and everything, still a topic with doubts for her.

"But…I'm trying…" the dino muttered.

"Then we'll try harder!" Takato said. "I don't want to lose you! You're my best friend…my only friend…"

Henry frowned, watching from nearby, having moved to better see the events now occurring. Had it been a school situation, he'd probably have complained about the 'only friend' line, but then again, it was the heat of the moment, and Takato did seem to cross his words far too often to catch him out on them. Calumon still sat on his head, watching sadly, his symbol beginning to slow.

"Best friend…not mad?" Guilmon groaned.

"Yeah…I should've trusted you…and I can't stay mad at you…you've got to win this!" he said.

"Okay…" Guilmon replied, his noises then changing to strangulation as Devidramon pressed his claw in further into the dino's neck to silence the conversation.

"Guilmon!" Takato called. Calumon leapt forward from Henry's head, surprising him as his symbol burst into red light. Guilmon glowed red as Takato's D-Arc burst into life, white beams of light flying from it. "Wow…" Takato exclaimed speechlessly, red light bursting from his form.

**DIGIVOLUTION**

**Guilmon Digivolve to…**

Guilmon's data was ripped off of his head, arms, legs and tails, running to his core. His wireframe changed somewhat, as red skin reappeared on it, crossed by black lines. White hair formed as he roared, looking upwards as his jaw materialised, before an explosion ripped around his form, and he slashed across with his bladed hands. He snorted fire, as he pronounced his name.

…**Growlmon!**

Growlmon roared up to his foe, as Takato stared on in amazement. Even Rika was surprised, particularly by the size of this new form. She thought that Guilmon was big enough, but Growlmon overshadowed even that, his bulky muscular form glaring at the demon above. Of course, she knew that Kyubimon had to be stronger, even with the type difference that would take effect in a battle between the pair, which she no longer had any intentions of doing, much to Takato's relief she had noted.

"It's hurting my ears!" Calumon complained, running away.

Henry stared up at the dinosaur, amazed at what he had witnessed. He had seen a real Digimon that digivolved. It was incredible. And he longed for a chance to have his own partner one day.

Devidramon flew up into the air, as Growlmon's jaw opened, flames boiling inside. "PYRO BLASTER!" he roared. Devidramon flew aside, the blast colliding with the Hypnos building.

* * *

"This can't be happening…" Riley noted. 

"It isn't…we will make a cover story, and then we will create a program to destroy all of these wild ones permanently…"

* * *

Growlmon climbed onto the bridge, as Devidramon swooped down. 

"Persistent aren't we?" the demon taunted.

"DRAGON SLASH!" Growlmon roared, his side-claws glowing blue as he slashed at the beast, before grabbing it. Each tried to get the upper hand.

"So is it going well or not?" Takato asked, watching the struggle from his new position on the roadway alongside Rika and Renamon.

"That'd be a judgement call…" Rika replied, as Devidramon freed himself and grabbed Growlmon, taking to the skies. "But now I'd say no…" she added in response.

"Growlmon!" Takato yelled, running up onto the stairs leading to the bridge in time to see Growlmon collide with and destroy it. "Growlmon!" he called again, as red eyes lit up menacingly, the hazards on his shoulders glowing bright as Growlmon lifted his head, looking to the sky. "Wow…" Takato exclaimed.

Devidramon swooped down from above, and Growlmon looked directly up, his eyes narrowing on his target. "PYRO BLASTER!" he roared, Takato feeling the heat as the flames roared past, a tremendous funnel of fire rising and burning Devidramon away into mere data.

The data continued downwards, to be absorbed by the dinosaur, who smirked and laughed at it, something which brought about unease in those watching.

"That was so cool!" Takato exclaimed, as Growlmon glanced to him, before looking back to the roadway. He roared loudly, facing Rika and Renamon standing below.

"What's he doing?" Rika asked Takato, as Growlmon glared at them.

"Um…down…boy?" Takato asked nervously, looking to his partner, as the hazards flashed erratically out of control. Growlmon's eyes flashed red.

"_**It's all that Digimon do, stupid…they fight, they load data, they get stronger and they digivolve, your dino is just my partner's stepping stone…"**_

"_**Who said anything about things having to be fair?"**_

"_**Renamon, whatever or whoever he is, destroy him…"**_

"_**Rika wishes for me to defeat you…I'm not letting anyone else do so first…"**_

"_**I am going to free my Tamer, I will be back to destroy you…"**_

"_**Next time we meet Gogglehead, that dino is toast, so me helping you is a one off thing, got that?! I'm not helping you again if they get you!"**_

"_**Time for round three…Renamon, attack!"**_

"_**Digimon are simply nothing more than data…not living things, not friends, just data…"**_

"_**Next time Renamon finds Guilmon, she is attacking without warning, got that?"**_

"_**This is mine and Renamon's battle; she still has yet to take out your little pet…you'll have to wait…"**_

"_**It's going to get us! This is all your fault!"**_

Images of battles, attacks against him, threats against him, painful groans and his worried partner ran through his head. Sure, those days were over, but Growlmon's rage-induced state from his battle prevented any logic from taking effect, as his jaws opened.

"No…way…" Henry muttered, watching the battle.

Rika paralysed in fear as flames were drawn into the dinosaur's throat. Renamon was similarly stuck in fear, as Takato stared into his partner's eyes, making a futile call.

"No!"

"PYRO BLASTER!"

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

And so Rika's battles come back to bite her. I originally planned this to be a longer chapter extending beyond this point, but the word total so far is already over 7000, and I don't want to end up putting too much in one chapter. 

Anyway, please review.

Next time…

Is this the end for Renamon and Rika? Will Takato be able to stop his partner? What's causing Growlmon to act like this?

Find out in 'Role Reversal', Chapter Seven of Deviations.


	7. Role Reversal

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story (except where stated).

* * *

**DEVIATIONS**

_**Chapter 7**_

_Role Reversal_

* * *

Renamon leapt in front of Rika as the flames drew close, while Takato reached into his pocket for the first card he could find.

Renamon screamed in pain as the intense flames hit her, Rika speechless as an element of the Dokugumon battle repeated itself. The flames died away, and Growlmon still looked set on attacking them, as he roared, walking forward and quaking the ground.

"Rika…move…" Renamon pleaded, as Rika grabbed her falling into her arms.

"No…" she replied, trying to move the fox on her own, but Growlmon was moving far faster than her. She looked up to the menacing eyes, towering over her, as his side-claws glowed blue. "Stop!" she yelled.

"DRAGON SLASH!" he roared.

Rika screamed as the blades drew closer and closer, before suddenly stopping. The air fell silent as Takato stared at Rika in shock, Henry with a similar expression as Renamon groaned in her arms.

'_Did she just scream?'_ Takato thought.

'_Why'd Growlmon stop?'_ Henry thought.

Rika looked up to Growlmon, struggling to move as a series of braces and grips grappled his arms back. She was speechless, what the hell had just happened?

Takato glanced to the card he had just slashed, the first one out of his deck, breathing a sigh of relief at his luck, getting a card that he'd normally have treated as useless.

**Training Grips**

Growlmon roared, struggling at his immobilisers as they began to snap. Takato looked down the stairs to Rika, who continued to try moving Renamon's immobile form. She paused when the sound of snapping sounded, looking up to see Growlmon once again drawing fire into his jaw.

Rika drew the first card from her deck. She only hoped that her partner still had enough energy to pull it off. She paused, before removing another card, a very recent addition to her deck.

"DIGI-MODIFY…Recharge Activate!" she yelled, as Renamon felt energy flood back into her, standing up.

"You won't hurt Rika!" she declared. Growlmon replied with a roar.

"DIGI-MODIFY…Digivolution Activate!" Rika yelled.

**DIGIVOLUTION**

**Renamon Digivolve to…Kyubimon!**

'_Whoa, two champions…'_ Henry thought.

'_This is going to be an interesting battle…'_ Rika thought. _'I should be happy, I always wanted to see this…but…I don't anymore…'_

'_I have to protect Rika, even if this dinosaur is an ally…"_ Kyubimon thought.

'_Ha ha, they're destroying each other! Now this is entertainment!'_ Impmon thought.

'_I have to stop Growlmon before he hurts them!'_ Takato thought.

"FOX TAIL INFERNO!" Kyubimon called, flames striking Growlmon and pushing him back.

"I have to stop him!" Takato yelled, noticing Growlmon's head now in line with the remains of the bridge he stood on. He, swallowing his fear, ran and leapt off the bridge, Henry and Rika's eyes widening as he grabbed Growlmon's neck, finding a foothold before he fell. "Waah!" he exclaimed, slipping as he grabbed onto Growlmon's fur.

"Gogglehead, get the hell off of your partner, Kyubimon can't attack!" Rika yelled.

"No, I've got to stop him!" Takato shouted, grabbing for Growlmon's hair as he shook, he climbed, as Growlmon widened his jaws.

"Kyubimon, move!" Rika yelled, as fire balled up in the back of the dinosaur's throat.

"PYRO BLASTER!" Growlmon roared. Kyubimon rolled forwards and underneath as the blast struck the ground, before continuing with her move.

"DRAGON WHEEL!" she yelled, a dragon roaring as she flew forward and hit Growlmon's chest, hazard signs still glowing on his shoulders as Takato grabbed on for dear life. Growlmon moved back in pain, as Kyubimon landed. Takato grabbed higher, pulling himself up onto Growlmon's head.

'_Oh great, I never thought of what to do when I got here…" _he thought in alarm, as Kyubimon analysed Growlmon.

'_How can I possibly attack with Takato there?'_ she thought.

"Kyubimon!" Rika called, running over to her partner.

"Rika, what are you doing?" the fox asked in alarm, Rika having run straight into the line of fire. Rika leapt onto her back, grabbing her mane.

"I'm fighting by your side, that's what I'm doing!" she replied. "Get behind Growlmon!" she ordered. As Kyubimon leapt forward, Growlmon panned his head to follow her moves. She leapt on to the stairs as he opened fire.

"PYRO BLASTER!" he roared, Takato grabbing on for dear life as his partner's jaw opened, fire burning away the remains of that half of the overbridge.

Rika pulled on Kyubimon's mane tighter to prevent herself falling off as the fox's pace increased, reaching the road behind the dinosaur. Growlmon began to turn, Takato holding on even tighter as the forces threatened to throw him off.

"Growlmon!" he yelled, and he swore he saw his partner's ears twitch.

Kyubimon's tails rose, ready to attack. "I can't believe I'm saying this but, avoid hitting Gogglehead!" Rika advised.

Kyubimon nodded, flames burning bright as she flung them forward. "FOX TAIL INFERNO!"

The attacks homed in from all directions, preventing Growlmon swatting them. Takato pulled himself in close, thinking that he could be hit otherwise.

"Growlmon, you've got to stop…" he pleaded, but to no avail, as the dinosaur's mouth reopened.

"PYRO BLASTER!" he roared, as Kyubimon quickly moved aside, Growlmon panning across to keep aiming for all ten seconds of fire. The rest of the bridge was eradicated, and the building across it was scorched. Henry ducked low from his hiding place as the flames drew close, breathing a sight of relief when they stopped.

'_What can I do?'_ Takato thought.

'_I'm too close to the battle…'_ Henry thought. _'I've got to get out of here, but Growlmon will see me!'_

'_If Gogglehead doesn't get his dinosaur under control, then I don't know what we're going to do!'_ Rika thought.

Takato recalled how that battle began, and a thought dawned on him.

'_Why didn't he attack me?'_

"DRAGON WHEEL!" Kyubimon roared, leaping at Growlmon. Rika stared on in shock as her partner turned to a blue fire like substance, which somehow failed to burn her as the stream of flames roared up and hit Growlmon in the stomach once again.

"DRAGON SLASH!" he roared, inadvertently hitting her leg and slamming Kyubimon into the roadway, Rika falling off after she landed. Takato looked down in shock.

"Rika, are you okay?!" he called.

Rika sat up, as Kyubimon groaned, standing herself up. They weren't going to last much longer at this rate.

Takato looked down from Growlmon's line of sight, and came up with a plan. "Rika, I need you to get me off of here!" he called, noting no other way down.

"What?" Rika asked.

"I've got a plan!"

Rika groaned, climbing back onto Kyubimon. "This better work Gogglehead!"

Kyubimon leapt forward at Growlmon, who turned his head as Rika put out her hand to Takato's, grabbing him as they flew past. Takato felt the shock of going from stationary to moving at at least forty miles an hour, as the fox landed. Rika expected Takato to climb onto Kyubimon completely, but instead he leapt off.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked, as he ran towards his partner, who looked down at him.

"Growlmon, stop!" he called.

"He's going to get himself killed…" Henry whispered, alarm in his tone.

Growlmon growled, looking to his Tamer, who stared back at him. "Growlmon, I order you to stop!" Takato yelled, Rika surprised at his strange burst of courage.

Growlmon and Takato glared into each others eyes, gold meeting azure.

"Why isn't he attacking?" Rika asked. Kyubimon watched, beginning to suss what was happening.

"Rika, he didn't attack Takato earlier…he hasn't attacked Takato at all…" she replied. Rika's eyes widened, as she looked up at the dino's face.

The hazards on the dino's shoulders flashed, as did Growlmon's eyes, the feral nature vanishing suddenly. Growlmon blinked several times, looking around.

"Takatomon, what's going on?" he asked. Takato smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you okay?" the boy asked.

"Yeah, why?"

Kyubimon cautiously approached them, Rika still on her back. Rika glared up at the dinosaur.

"Why the hell did you attack us?"

'_Oh the irony…'_ Takato thought.

"Um…" Growlmon replied. "I attacked you?" he asked.

"Yeah, and you nearly killed us!" Rika yelled.

"Sorry…" the dinosaur replied. Rika turned to his Tamer, looking for a better explanation.

"Gogglehead, your pet is completely out of control, what the hell is wrong with him?" she asked.

"Hey, it's not his fault!"

"Then it's yours, you should learn to keep him under control!"

"Hey, it could be anything…you know…something completely out of our control…"

Rika frowned in annoyance. "You better figure out what it is soon before someone gets hurt, or worse…" she told him. He frowned, looking up to his partner.

"Was I scary?" Guilmon asked.

'_Only if you find huge scary things scary…'_ Takato thought. "A bit yeah…" he answered.

"I'm sorry Takatomon…" Growlmon said emotionally.

"Hey, it's not your fault…"

"Can I be Guilmon again?"

"Um…I don't know…" Takato said, turning to the redhead on the fox. "Rika, how did you dedigivolve Kyubimon?"

"Huh…" Rika said, looking up and paying attention back to the conversation, having become bored with their sappy chat. She glanced down at her partner. "She just…did…it took a while though…I guess I'll have to do that again…"

"Aw, but I can't wait that long…" Growlmon complained. Rika groaned.

"Same old Guilmon, you really can't get anything right, can you Gogglehead?"

Takato nodded. "Yeah, it seems to be a habit of mine…hey, what are you going to do with Kyubimon?"

"First of all Gogglehead, she isn't a huge dinosaur, so she won't be hard to hide. Secondly, she also knows the meaning of the word subtle…"

"Yeah, but she's still pretty large compared to Renamon…"

Rika frowned, glancing to her D-Arc. "Maybe this piece of junk can be useful for something…"

"You mean something other than digivolving, slashing cards and getting information on Digimon?" Kyubimon asked, in a slightly teasing tone. Rika frowned, now even her partner was getting at her.

"Hmm…" Rika pondered, pressing buttons, before sighing. "Nothing, nothing works…" she groaned.

"Maybe there's a card…"

"There isn't…"

"Well then maybe…"

"Gogglehead, none of your ideas are going to work…we've just got to wait, I guess…"

"What if they revert through exhaustion?"

"Which'll take time anyway…I'd like to sleep at some point tonight!"

"Hmm…" Takato pondered, looking at his D-Arc. Rika had begun to ponder how long it was until they had to move, the police would be along soon enough. Then again, Takato was the only one who would struggle with a quick exit, so it was his problem. He held out his D-Arc and a card, sweeping it through backwards. "DIGI-MODIFY…Dedigivolution Activate!" he called.

Rika raised an eyebrow, as he began to blush in embarrassment. "Were you expecting that to do anything Gogglehead? Dedigivolve isn't even a word…"

"I just thought if I used it backwards…"

"Maybe I could dangle you upside down, then the blood might actually flow to your brain…" Rika mocked.

"Um…wouldn't that hurt a lot?" Takato asked nervously.

Rika groaned in annoyance. Why was she still trying to help him, she should've just left him behind to deal with his own problems, but no, she had to be 'caring' somewhat now. "Look, let's just get out of here, find somewhere to hide the pair of them, and then I can be rid of you for another evening!"

Henry watched as Takato nervously agreed, and they proceeded to leave, chuckling at the sight of Growlmon's size compared to everything else. Where were they expecting to hide them anyway? Where can you hide a dinosaur and not have it noticed?

* * *

"We can't leave him here!" Takato said, looking at the entrance familiar from their adventure only a few days ago, the tunnel entrance not far ahead. "He'll disappear again…"

Rika groaned, Takato clearly wasn't thinking straight, she had considered dangling him upside-down for real several times on their way here. "Look, that was just a one-off thing…"

"Are you sure?"

"If I wasn't sure, why would I be leaving Kyubimon here?"

"I see your point…"

Rika glanced to her partner as she leapt off her back, Takato clumsily sliding off his. She was surprised that no-one had seen the dinosaur on their way here, but Rika decided to count her blessings as Growlmon and a reluctant Kyubimon entered.

"See, unless he's scared of the dark or claustrophobic, nothing to worry about here…" Rika said, looking into the tunnel.

"And what if he is?"

"Then I don't care…"

They walked for a short distance into the tunnel, to ensure that they were very unlikely to be discovered. "Sorry Growlmon, but anywhere else someone will find you…" Takato told his partner, who nodded sadly, leaning against one of the walls and settling down.

"Sorry Kyubimon, if you get bored in the night, feel free to attack him…" Rika told her partner, who, keeping as much distance between her and Growlmon without going too far, curled on the ground to sleep.

"Hey!" Takato complained.

"He better not snore…" Kyubimon noted.

"Sorry…" Growlmon replied. Kyubimon groaned, she was going to be tired in the morning. She only hoped that'd work to solve her problem, being stuck as Kyubimon, albeit powerful, was annoying, she was unable to teleport at all.

"Growlmon, by the way, please don't leave here, even if Calumon discovers the biggest store of bread ever, okay?"

"Bye…" Takato said, walking away from them, Rika following.

* * *

"Gogglehead, how do you always manage to mess up?" she asked him, as they exited the tunnel into the cold night air.

"Yeah, I know, I'm the worst Tamer in the world…" he replied glumly.

Rika smirked. "Gogglehead, there are only two Tamers in the world, so you must be. Let me put it in a different way, if every single person in the world, nay, the universe, in all of time, had a Digimon, or even more, as a partner, you would still be the worst Tamer of the lot…"

"Thanks for the reassurance…"

"Any time at all, and I don't mean that literally…you bug me Gogglehead, so hopefully I won't have to put up with you tomorrow…"

"Well, I am probably going to see you when going to get Guilmon, so…"

"Oh great…" Rika complained.

"Rika…something's been bugging me…" Takato began nervously.

"Hmm?"

"Why are you helping me? I mean, a few days ago, you'd never even consider helping me, but now…" he trailed off.

"Takato, I'm simply sick of seeing your trip over your own feet…" she said, looking into his eyes. "You do not know how tiresome it gets…"

Takato chuckled. "Fine…" he replied, as she turned and walked away.

"See you not soon…" she said.

"Yeah, bye…" Takato replied, walking in the other direction. _'Does the world enjoy throwing me for a loop or something?'_

* * *

"Aw, look at the little babies sleeping…" Impmon mocked, seeing the pair of champions in the tunnel. "I certainly had good luck with this, now which one to bug first…"

He looked over the pair, considering his thoughts, before making a fireball.

"Who am I kidding, she'd just attack me…" he muttered, walking past the fox and onto the dragon, poking him in the face. "Hey, wake up!" he called.

The snoring continued, as Impmon was swatted aside into the wall. He groaned, standing up annoyed.

"So you want to play rough huh?"

The snoring continued.

"Seriously, get up, I didn't come all this way just to watch you snore! I'm a busy guy, I have…other things to do…are you listening?!"

Impmon leapt in surprise as Growlmon opened an eye. "Impmon…"

"Yeah?"

"I'm not supposed to leave here…"

"Why?"

"Takato said so…" Growlmon replied, closing his eyes again

"Geez…you're just as boring as ever…" Impmon complained. "Listen to me! BADA BOOM!"

Growlmon exclaimed in pain as he was burnt, his eyes shooting wide open.

"Run fatso run!" Impmon joked, throwing fireball after fireball at Growlmon as he ran down the tunnel. Impmon laughed manically.

* * *

Takato turned up at the tunnel entrance, bread in hand, bright and early the next morning. He was eager to see Guilmon (hopefully) again, and to some extent Rika and Renamon (hopefully). Unfortunately, things were not to turn out the way he hoped.

"Guilmon?" he called, walking down the tunnel. "Guilmon?"

"Be quiet…" complained a voice, as Takato looked to see Renamon resting against the wall, yawning.

"Hey Renamon, where'd Guilmon go?" she asked. Renamon glanced around, noticing his absence.

"Hmm…I am not sure…"

"Great…" Takato said sarcastically. "Now what do I do? Things couldn't get any worse…" he groaned.

The door opened once again, and Rika entered, glancing to him with a curious expression.

"Did it work?" she asked, as he glanced up uneasily.

"For Renamon, yes…"

"Then that's all I care about…" she replied, as Renamon walked over to her.

"Come on, you've got to help me find him!" Takato asked.

"I told you Takato, I'm sick of having to do that, so bye…" she replied, closing the door again, and leaving Takato to his thoughts. He looked off down the tunnel.

'_Maybe he just went a short way down…'_

A few minutes later, Takato's legs had begun to ache, as he groaned.

"Where is he?" he asked, looking to see the exit to the tunnel not far ahead. He groaned, seeing nothing as he stepped out.

Around him was Shinjuku Park, the other side of it to be precise. He wasn't heading down that tunnel again for sure, so he walked around, looking for some sign of his partner.

"Growlmon!" he called when he noticed that he was out of earshot. This would be annoying, he had school to go to, and he still hadn't found his partner. _'Why do I always end up looking for him?'_

"Growlmon?" asked a voice, and Takato turned to see Henry, looking at him curiously.

Takato sweatdropped nervously, this was getting more and more difficult by the day.

"Imaginary Digimon again?" Henry asked.

"Um…yeah, he digivolved and, I can't find him…"

Henry rolled his eyes slightly, this story was so unbelievable it was deserving of a prize. Firstly, if he really was Takato's imaginary Digimon, why wouldn't he be able to find him? Secondly, why was he in the tunnel if he was looking for a Digimon? Thirdly, school started in less than half an hour, and he had two bags of bread in his hands, which an imaginary dinosaur wouldn't be able to eat. But, Henry would have to believe it to keep up the façade, otherwise he'd probably never have a chance to meet Guilmon for real.

"So…" Henry began. "What are you going to do?"

"I guess I'll keep looking after school…"

"What are you going to do with the bread?"

"Um…" Takato pondered. "Give it to Calumon?" he suggested.

"How are you going to find him?" Henry added.

"Well…I know where he might go…"

* * *

"Hmm…why here?" Henry asked, looking around the small concrete abandoned hut.

"I don't know, he just likes this place…" Takato replied, putting the bags of bread down. _'Well, if Guilmon comes back, I guess he can eat it…'_ "I call it the 'hideout'"

"Why, what do you hide here?" Henry asked.

"Um…Calumon…"

"What's with all the digging?"

"Calumon is very strange…"

"Uh…huh…" Henry replied, not believing a word of it. However, it did tell him one thing. This is where he could find Guilmon.

* * *

Takato breathed a sigh of relief once school was over, Henry soon joining him as they left. "So, are you going to look for Guilmon now?" Henry asked.

"Yeah, but I may just give up and re-imagine him someplace else…"

"How do you know when you've found him?"

"Um…I just know, that's all…"

"Right…" Henry replied sarcastically.

"Yay!" Calumon suddenly cheered, leaping out of a bush onto Takato's head, surprising the pair.

"Don't…do...that!" Takato complained.

"What?"

"Leaping out and surprising us like that!"

"But it's fun!"

Henry and Takato groaned.

* * *

Despite Takato's attempts at finding an excuse to lose him, Henry was still following him as he walked around the park, Calumon on his head. He'd already noticed that Guilmon wasn't at the hideout, and Calumon had no idea either. Takato was going to use his D-Arc, but with Henry here it would be impossible.

Henry sighed, he'd intended to follow Takato to see Guilmon, but they just ended up going around in circles. He also had to go to his Dojo soon, so he'd have to give up. He had a feeling that Takato was intentionally looking in the same places again.

"Haven't we been here before?" Henry asked, pausing.

"Um…oh yeah, I must be losing myself…"

Henry closed his eyes, ignoring his frustration as he realised he was out of time. "Look, I've got to go to see my Sensei, so I'll see you later, okay?"

"Yeah, see you later…" Takato replied, as the blue haired boy turned and walked away.

"I'm coming with!" Calumon cheered, following.

Takato breathed a sigh of relief that unfortunately Henry heard, but he decided to keep quiet on it for now. Takato turned, checking that no-one was watching and taking out his D-Arc, switching to the compass. "Now let's see…" he began, before following where it pointed.

He was lead past the hideout (where his bread had been raided), and along several paths until he came to the playground.

"According to this, he should be right over…" he began, moving his D-Arc away and looking up to see a frustrated Growlmon, children playing on him. His eyes widened as he ran over to his partner. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Growlmon looked glum. "Can't move, kids on me…"

* * *

It was an hour before Growlmon could move, an hour of Takato subtly feeding him bread and talking about why he ran from the tunnels. Takato had begun to hate Impmon, he seemed to have a pretty big grudge against Guilmon. Then again, it seemed like he also had similar grudges against Calumon and Renamon, so may he just hated everyone. Takato now sat near his partner's head, chatting.

"What I don't understand is, why didn't you dedigivolve yet when Renamon did?"

"Yeah, that's really strange…"

"Hmm…"

"Takatomon, how am I going to dedigivolve?"

"I have no idea…we'll have to hide you again…"

"Oh, but I hated the tunnels…"

Takato groaned. "So what do we do then?"

"I thought Renamon was joking but, sheesh, your partner does some stupid things…" a new voice said. Takato glanced up to see Rika, nodding to her, Renamon next to her.

"Rika…" he greeted glumly.

"Oh come on Gogglehead, at least be annoyed or something…"

"What do I do?"

"Well, you're going to have to hide him again…"

"Yeah, but I hate the tunnels…" Growlmon complained.

"So? Just put up with it!" Rika replied.

"That's not helpful…" Takato replied.

"I'm not feeling helpful…"

"He's not exactly, subtle, is he…" Renamon noted.

"Yeah…" Takato replied. "Hey, maybe we could make him blend in, you know…catsflange…"

"Camouflage Gogglehead!" Rika insisted.

Takato recoiled in worry, before nodding. "My parents have some paint left over from painting the bakery…"

"I presume you want me to help you?" Rika asked. "Well forget it…"

"Come on, it'll be fun…"

* * *

"That was not fun Gogglehead, do you know how much crap he has between his toes?!" she asked, in annoyance.

"Then why did you give in and agree to help?"

"I don't know…" Rika replied, breaking away from her normal confident talk. "I just…thought it'd be fun to see you suffer…"

"So that's why I had to climb up to paint him while you didn't bother to do anything out of arms length…" Takato realised.

"Yeah, now I wish I hadn't even done that…"

"I think it works pretty well though…" Takato said, admiring their work. Growlmon was now the colour of camouflage, a plan Takato hoped would hide him in the bushes at least until he dedigivolved.

"Go on then, hide…" Renamon said. "And I'll seek…" she added.

"I have a feeling that this'll be over quickly…" Takato replied nervously. "Anyway, go ahead…" he said to his partner.

"Okay…" Growlmon replied. "Close your eyes!" he added, Rika groaning at how childish it was as they turned around and covered or closed their eyes, hearing ruffling of bushes behind. "I'm done!" Growlmon finished.

"Now that's already a big mistake…" Rika complained. "Saying where you're hiding…" she added, as they turned.

"Well, I have to say, I can't see him…" Takato noted, looking around. "Is that him?"

"That's a stick…" Renamon replied.

"Well, if you look at it from a certain angle…"

"Gogglehead, it's still a stick…" Rika patronised.

"Right…um…Growlmon, where are you?" he asked, looking amongst the foliage for any sign of the dinosaur.

"I can't tell you…" Growlmon replied.

"Yeah, but I have to know, don't I?"

"Then find me!"

"Anyway, I don't think anyone is going to find him there…"

Rika sighed. "Renamon, figure out where he is…"

Renamon lifted a hand, as Growlmon groaned, stepping forwards. "Aw…" he complained.

"What, how'd you do that?" Takato asked.

"A person may not be able to see him, but any Digimon worth their salts, let alone Renamon..., could find him within seconds" Rika explained in a patronising tone. "Now, I'm sick of this, can I go home?" she asked. "And that's not meant as a question…"

"What do I do about Growlmon?" Takato asked, as Renamon stepped over to her Tamer.

"Figure something out, I don't care…" Rika answered bluntly, turning away as the clouds rumbled above.

Takato looked up, finding it oddly fitting given his current situation.

"Oh great, now I'm out in the rain thanks to you…" Rika complained, as the water began to pour down.

"This wasn't in the forecast…" Takato pondered.

"Takato, we have a problem…" Growlmon called, as Takato turned, to see the paint cascading off him.

"We used water based paint?!" Rika questioned. "I wasted all that time!"

Takato whimpered, this was all getting to be too much.

'_Why the hell is he crying?'_ Rika thought as he ran forward to hug his partner.

"Growlmon, what are we going to do? You can't dedigivolve, and I can't avoid oil based paint…" he whimpered.

"Why are you crying?" Rika asked.

Takato turned, a strangely dark expression on his face, that made Rika slightly fearful, and also worried. "Because every single thing I do turns to crap Rika…have you considered what it's like to be in that position? You may find it funny, but I don't! Every single damn thing I do! Guilmon gets out of control, I almost lose him in several battles, I continue to do bad in school, I have very few friends, I skip up on my words so often that I end up in the worse situations possible, and even when I have a chance to make a friend, I screw it up by not telling him about my partner…so you can call me an idiot all you want, because I already know that Rika…"

Rika was about to reply, but she paused, the rain pouring down on them. She didn't feel like replying. Despite the huge potential for teasing him here, something held her back. Something stopped her from going that far.

"Please don't cry Takato…" Growlmon asked.

"Thanks…for calling me that…not Takatomon…" Takato said through his tears, crying into Growlmon's leg as the paint ran.

"No problem Takatomon…"

Rika smiled slightly at the amusing situation, but she still felt bad. What was she meant to do, go over and comfort him and tell him that everything would be okay? She'd never been in a situation like this before, she'd always left beforehand. She glanced to the sky through the gap in the trees as the rain slowed, coming to a complete stop finally.

"Well, that's at least something good then…" Rika noted.

Rays of light shone down on the brunette and his partner, as Rika suddenly noticed a rare occurrence in the sky.

"A rainbow?" she asked.

Renamon glanced to it, looking curiously. "Hmm…I think they are leftover data particles…"

"Take all the fun out of it why don't you…" Rika joked, smiling slightly.

Takato looked up in amazement, his tears stopping. Growlmon looked on in similar shock, as he began to glow.

"What's happening?" Takato asked in amazement.

The data rose into the air from Growlmon, as he glowed a blue hue. Takato, Rika and Renamon all looked on in amazement, as he suddenly (and surprisingly quickly) shrunk back to Guilmon.

"Guilmon, you're back to normal!" Takato cheered, pulling his partner into a hug.

"Sappy as always…" Rika said, a strangely positive tone in her voice. Takato nodded, smiling happily.

"I want to eat bread!" Guilmon cheered.

"Nothing new there then…" Renamon muttered. Rika smiled and nodded, before walking over to Takato.

"Look, take from this what you want, but I think that Kyubimon dedigivolved fast because she's more experienced…" she mooted, leaving Takato to decide whether to interpret that as an insult or an attempt at reassurance.

"Yeah…I see your point…" Takato replied.

"Good, I'm going home now, and I don't want to see you for another week at least!" Rika insisted, walking away.

'_Some things never change…'_ Takato thought, nodding. "I'll try…" he replied.

"Good…"

Rika smiled slightly, enough for only Renamon to notice. She'd helped to some extent, and it felt strangely good.

She wasn't going to be making a habit of it by any means.

The world suddenly felt icy cold for a second.

'_Huh…'_

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

I didn't actually expect much of this chapter (in the show it feels a bit like filler, although it was good to see the problems dealt with rather than 'everything is back to normal' the episode after like in most episodes in previous series and other TV series), so how it worked out, particularly with the additional battle, was good in the end. The title I find rather apt in particular.

Next time…

Is Rika going to be nicer? Will Guilmon always need a rainbow to dedigivolve? What was the icy cold that Rika felt?

Find out in 'Fire and Ice', Chapter Eight of Deviations.


	8. Fire and Ice

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story (except where stated).

* * *

**DEVIATIONS**

_**Chapter 8**_

_Fire and Ice_

* * *

Music hissed away from a pair of headphones as Rika Nonaka headed down your typical Tokyo shopping street. Signs proclaiming stores names stuck out of the walls, and the pathway was relatively empty, those who weren't lucky enough to be out of school at three like Rika still at work in the busy metropolis. 

The music had faded to white noise for the girl, as she pondered another thing beyond what her fellow pedestrians knew about, or had a hope in hell of understanding.

'_Digivolving…I don't understand it…'_

The previous two days had been a hive of activity for the Tamers. On the first day, after a big fall out the day before, Takato and Guilmon made up on the battlefield and he digivolved to Growlmon. Everything seemed okay; at least until the dinosaur went feral and attacked her and her partner Renamon. It wasn't the first time the Gogglehead's partner had become uncontrolled and violent, and Rika would bet everything she owned that it wasn't going to be the last time either. Then again, who would make such a bet?

The Gogglehead perhaps? He'd been, annoyingly, on her mind lately. Despite herself having far more battle experience, and a far stronger partner, he seemed to get one up on her repeatedly, before messing up spectacularly. She had to admit that Growlmon, while completely insane and lacking any sense of friend or foe (beyond Takato, of course, which had been their eventual solution to the problem), was also very powerful. Scenes of him demolishing the remains of the footbridge came to mind, as well as when Renamon stood in the way of his attack and was almost destroyed. Even Dokugumon had to attack Renamon several times before she managed to get her down.

And why could Guilmon digivolve anyway? Beyond the care and love element that she had begun to understand, albeit only slightly, he had still had no real battle experience. He hadn't even loaded any data, and the only battles he'd been in were against Vilemon, Allomon and of course, her own partner. But he still digivolved, and this bugged Rika.

It felt somewhat unfair. She and Renamon had fought in at least two dozen battles in the course of a month, and yet all it took were five for Guilmon to digivolve. Renamon's digivolution was literally a last-ditch attempt at protecting her Tamer, rather than a strategic move. Sure, Kyubimon was powerful, but even she couldn't subdue Growlmon. Then again, having to avoid hitting Takato on his neck in the process didn't help.

Furthermore, she knew that, if they came up against a series of viruses, at ultimate level as well, Renamon would unfortunately be no match due to her data type. Then again, despite having no weakness, even Guilmon would have difficulties. They didn't have any vaccine type on their team, a pain really compared to the TV series.

"_**This isn't the TV show you idiot!"**_

Rika chuckled slightly; she'd fallen foul of her own words. Whatever happened, they'd have to fight, and Renamon would need to get stronger. It could only be a matter of weeks until they faced their first ultimate, as the digimon that arrived seemed to be getting steadily more powerful. But she would ensure that none of them were any match for Renamon.

She'd one-up Gogglehead completely, with Kyubimon at her side. They were unstoppable; she had finally got her wish. The one she had wanted for what seemed like forever.

'_Still…'_

She recalled the events of the previous day, with the freak rain storm. Renamon had later mooted that it wasn't a natural phenomenon, but that wasn't surprising to Rika anyway. Takato had gotten really emotional, to the point of crying, something that she didn't expect even from him (although she would never have admitted it)…

"_**Because every single thing I do turns to crap Rika…have you considered what it's like to be in that position? You may find it funny, but I don't! Every single damn thing I do! Guilmon gets out of control, I almost lose him in several battles, I continue to do bad in school, I have very few friends, I skip up on my words so often that I end up in the worse situations possible, and even when I have a chance to make a friend, I screw it up by not telling him about my partner…so you can call me an idiot all you want, because I already know that Rika…"**_

She felt a strange emotion after hearing him talk about it.

Regret.

And then, Growlmon had dedigivolved. All from a rainbow, but…was she missing something here? Kyubimon had dedigivolved naturally, what was going on? Was Growlmon so powerful that he couldn't even sleep it off?

She clenched her fist. Who cared about the Gogglehead and his little problems? Why were they her problems anyway? They weren't, and she was going to keep it that way. Gogglehead was always too busy tripping over his own feet in battle anyway, to be a real ally. All she needed was herself and her Digimon, anyone else was simply cannon fodder.

A sharp chill ran up the back of her spine, and she paused, turning in fear.

Nothing was there. Only the road stretching away, the pedestrians going about their daily business, albeit with a few noticing her odd moves.

"What was that?" she exclaimed.

She stared down the road for a while, looking for whatever it was. She knew that by now, Renamon would be wondering what had concerned her, but it seemed so real. Was she just imagining things? It felt like she had suddenly turned cold, and it'd happened the day before too. Just after Growlmon dedigivolved.

Did this have something to do with Guilmon?

No, that was a silly idea, Guilmon couldn't even fight well in battle, let alone have the powers to pull off such unseen moves. And why would he anyway? Sure, they'd attacked him in the past, but after he attacked them, he seemed truly regretful of it. And besides, he would probably be sitting in his little box eating bread as always.

'_I could've sworn I felt something though…'_

Rika turned, gasping in surprise at what she saw, before pausing.

"Hey Rika!" Calumon cheered. Rika groaned, and then spoke to him, standing over in a pose that was very intimidating for the small fairy-like creature.

"Have you been sneaking up on me?" she asked.

"Um…no?" Calumon replied, bewildered. "Do you want me to?"

Rika groaned, walking past the fairy.

* * *

Henry was reading through a programming manual, one of the things he'd been trying to learn lately. All was quiet as he sat on the comfortable cushions of his living room, his mother with his little sister Suzie at the park, his father at work and his two other sisters, Jaarin and Rinchei, out shopping. 

A perfect environment for learning, it seemed, but Henry just couldn't get his mind on the text.

'_I know where Guilmon will be hidden, why don't I just go to see?'_he thought. He felt reluctant though, for a reason he was still pondering.

Was he afraid of being attacked by the dinosaur? He didn't think so; the dinosaur didn't exactly look like that kind of creature.

Was he afraid of Takato being mad at him? Perhaps, but Takato seemed quite easy-going.

Was he afraid of getting into something that he'd later regret? Probably, the potential for him to be drawn into this new way of life was huge. Then again, he didn't have a partner. Maybe he'd get one though.

He'd always been a fan of Digimon, since the first Digimon V-pets, and in particular the video games. Sure, the fanbase had declined lately, but he still liked it.

But where did these real Digimon come from? How deep did the rabbit hole go, to borrow a phrase from a film he'd seen?

Thinking of rabbits, and video games too, he recalled a few weeks prior when he had received a new video game after his father had received a promotion at work. It was the latest Digimon game, far more realistic than ever before, and allowed the user to pick, train, digivolve, and for the first time, slash cards using the included card reader.

He'd booted it up straight away, well, after a lengthy installation process at least. But that wasn't important, what really mattered was which Digimon he could pick. The game was so realistic, the world itself seemed huge, and the graphics were great. He was surprised that his computer, comparatively feeble compared to a gaming rig, could run such a game without exploding.

First things first, he picked a Digimon. It was a somewhat arbitrary list, the selection of Digimon seemed random, and he had such a choice. But none of them seemed like what he wanted; they all seemed far too vastly overpowered. He wanted a challenge, a Digimon that would feel like a real partner. One with a full evolution line.

Apparently one who could also dance too, he had thought, switching to the next Digimon on the list. It was a Terriermon, and the animation was adorable, albeit unrealistic compared to the rest of the game. It was perfect, Terriermon had a full evolution line, from Baby to Mega, and it'd give him a real challenge facing whatever threats there were in the game.

He had selected it, smiling to see a large expansive desert with rocks and a blue sky. Perhaps a bit barren, but he expected the more impressive stuff to be on later levels. It almost felt like a window on a world in the way it appeared, it was incredibly realistic, far beyond what he expected from computer graphics.

The controls were slightly difficult to master. Your Digimon would move on their own, assisted by encouragement, food, health recovering and a multitude of other techniques. And then came the battles, which truly were random. He'd once had to flee pretty quickly from a MetalGreymon, a pretty strange battle for that early on in the game. He'd tried to avoid anything above a rookie until Terriermon was strong enough to digivolve.

Then he saw it. A Gorillamon, attacking helpless rookies and in-trainings with his cannons. He knew it was only a game, but he had to help. A yearning to assist took over any sense of logic in choosing opponents, and he sent Terriermon in to attack. At first the battle seemed clean-cut, Terriermon was being damaged easily, but then he started to use modify cards.

"_**Power Activate!"**_

"_**Speed Activate!"**_

"_**Targeting Activate!"**_

And then it happened. The words flashed up on screen.

**DIGIVOLUTION**

**Terriermon Digivolve to…Gargomon!**

A larger bunny with a cannon on his hand had replaced the small dog-bunny, and he attacked. Gorillamon ran for it, as Gargomon chased after him. Henry had been cheering, but he stopped once Gorillamon was destroyed and his data was loaded by the bunny.

This wasn't fun. It was horrible. The realism only added to it, as the data glowed into the bunny. Why had he kept attacking, Henry hadn't told him to defeat the ape, just to subdue it?

Gargomon was just like all the rest of them. Fight or be killed.

He'd turned off the game, leaving Gargomon running around. That evening, he'd gone to his father, to talk to him about the game.

"_**The Digimon can't actually be hurt because they don't really exist…"**_his father had said. Henry wanted to believe him, but returning to his computer, he simply couldn't. His game had kept running somehow, Gargomon had been attacked by a Meramon, and was now back to Terriermon, injured. The pain was so real, the struggle.

He'd closed the game, and left it in its box.

The game still was in his room, the box gathering dust amongst a pile of game boxes. A part of Henry yearned him to play again, told him that it wasn't that bad. If Terriermon had kept moving while he spoke to his father, then maybe Terriermon needed help.

"_**The Digimon can't actually be hurt because they don't really exist…"**_

He sighed, he was lying to himself. Ironically, he'd discovered that they did actually exist, but that was in real life, not in a video game.

He hoped that he could muster up the courage to go and find out about the Digimon, and also hoped that the rabbit hole didn't go too deep…

* * *

"I don't have any food…" Rika began, turning to face the fairy that had decided to follow her footsteps. "So why are you following me?" 

"Wanna play?" Calumon asked, ears out like wings and smiling. Nothing could get him down, could it. "Huh?"

Rika glanced to the posters in the window next to her. _'Terrific, my mother, like I don't have enough problems already…'_ she thought, looking at the shop displays of her mother modelling their latest range.

"Here I come!" Calumon cheered, leaping into Rika's hands, laughing.

"What are you doing?"

"Eskimo kisses!"

Rika groaned. It was going to be one of those days. Why did Calumon still like her, she'd kicked him for god's sake?

"Rika!" called an all-too familiar voice, Rika doing an about-face to see her mother, running up to her, phone ringing all the while. She groaned, her mother rarely saw her anyway, and this wasn't the best of times to boot. Calumon still smiled widely, to the point where he could easily be mistaken for a doll.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" Rika asked, her voice panicky. She didn't want to seem soft of all things, and here she was, carrying a doll-like object that about 99 percent of the female population of Japan would gawp at.

"What a day…we had a photo shoot, but it was interrupted when all these people showed up wanting my autograph and my secrets for my good looks, we just couldn't get anything done…" she ranted, crossing her arms as Rika groaned, not noticing the ironic similarity in their frustrated poses. "Being famous and popular can be a pain in the ass…" her mother muttered, as Rika backed away carefully, noticing a crowd had begun to gather. "You're so glad you don't know how that feels…"

Rika's voice had turned nervous; she hated being seen in public with her mother, or indeed anything to do with her. "Yeah, well, lucky me, I've got to go…" she said, preparing to head back the way she had came, which was not where she intended to go.

"Wait, Rika…" her mother said, Rika turning back to her out of not wanting to look insolent in front of her family, or indeed the press. That would probably cause far more problems than she could deal with, particularly since with Hypnos having seen her, she wanted to keep the number of pictures she had in the papers to a minimum, in other words, zero. "I think your doll is adorable…" her mother finished.

Rika groaned, looking down at Calumon, smiling widely as ever. "You had to be cute, didn't you?" she said spitefully.

* * *

Rika finally got away from watching eyes in the park, in an area full of oriental buildings. She could finally get rid of the wretched Digimon, making her life a misery, as she put him down on the ground. She considered drop-kicking him away, but that'd be too much even for her. He wasn't trying to annoy her, he was simply naïve. 

'_A thing that both he and the Gogglehead have in common…' _she noted. She bent down, still towering over the fairy. "Listen you little squirt, I'm immune to your eutsey-cutsey ways, so scram!" he said, standing up again and glaring at him.

He whimpered, running away.

"Keep going shorty!" she called out.

A chill ran down her spine again, and she paralysed in fear.

"Renamon?" she asked fearfully, turning as the chill faded. "Gogglehead?" she called, turning and clenching her fists. "Guilmon?" she called out. "Impmon? Grandma? Anyone?!" she called, now annoyed. Someone had to be hiding in one of these oriental structures, they just had to be. But the door was unmoved, and she hadn't heard any movement behind her.

Renamon teleported in against a tree. "You called?" she asked, looking at her with her blue orbs.

"Where have you been?" Rika asked, her voice with a tinge of spitefulness. Renamon was never there when she needed her, and it'd started to bug her.

Renamon looked to a building nearby. "Watching you from over there, why?" she asked.

"Oh…" Rika replied, realising she'd snapped back into her old habit of being mean to her partner.

"You don't look well, is something troubling you?" Renamon asked. Rika walked away glumly, Renamon stepping towards her and looking around.

"Nothing, I'm fine…" she replied, walking away.

Renamon groaned to see the annoying pest that had been her bane for several days. "Hey Foxy, so we meet again…" Impmon taunted, trying to look tough with his hands on his hips.

"Hmm, I was planning to hunt you down and destroy you today, but this makes things so much simpler…" Renamon replied, looking at Impmon. "Then again, you're no longer even worth attacking…" she added, turning and walking away.

"Hey, look at Mrs High and Mighty!" Impmon complained. "Hey, listen to me! Guilmon said that he wanted a fight and that you're an idiotic yellow furball, are you going to take that?"

Renamon paused. "Guilmon isn't even nearly that coherent…" she replied. "Besides, his Tamer treats him as a pet; he wouldn't be allowed to fight anyway…"

"Not allowed to fight? Listening to his stupid Tamer again, I oughta teach those guys a lesson!"

Renamon chuckled, annoying the imp.

"Hey, what's so funny?!"

"Even Takato could beat you in a fight…" she replied, vanishing.

"Hey, come back, I'm not done talking to you!" Impmon complained. "How'd she do that anyway?"

* * *

Rika felt ready to vomit as her mother held up the dress to her. It was awful; she'd do anything rather than wear it. It was disgusting, it was girly… 

"Try it, it'll make you look more like a girl!" her mother said cheerfully.

Rika groaned. Her point was proven. And what, did her mother think she looked like a boy then? Boys were stupid, the Gogglehead and the idiots she beat tournament after tournament proved that. Girls were also stupid, bitching about her in school, being pathetic and wimpish. She didn't want to conform to either stereotype, she was her own person, and she didn't care what her mother thought. Rika closed her eyes, her voice taking on even more of an irritated tone. "I told you before, I can't stand cute things like this!"

"Err, what about that stuffed toy earlier?"

"Burnt…"

"Aw, but it was so cute…"

"Hence I burnt it…now I'm out of here…" she replied, walking away to her room.

Rumiko moaned. "I guess she's still into her tomboy style…"

"Rika just has her own style…" her own mother reassured. "There are more important things in life than looking pretty…"

Rumiko looked to her mother, bewildered. "Really? Like what?"

* * *

Rika walked along the hallway, pausing when the chill ran through her again, colder than ever before. The air froze, her breath condensing, as she quickly and hurriedly shut herself in her room, breathing deeply in fear as the door handle turned cold, the temperature dropping in the room considerably. 

"Renamon…" she called fearfully.

The fox materialised in her room. Rika bent over onto a table on her knees in fear, as Renamon looked at her curiously.

"Go and see what's out there, okay?" she asked, her voice alarmed.

Renamon stepped forward to the door, opening it gently and looking around, before closing it again.

"There is nothing…" she reported.

"Don't lie to me; I know there is someone following me!" Rika complained, looking into her partners eyes as the fox paused. "What's that look for?" she questioned.

"Don't worry, I'll do everything I can to protect you…"

"But why? You don't need to protect me, what's your deal?! What the hell do you get out of all of this?!" Rika questioned, standing up and glaring into her partners' eyes.

"I'm your partner Rika; I have you by my side as my friend…"

"I don't care about all this crap, all this touchy feely crap! Kyubimon was a fluke Renamon and you know it! Growlmon too, the Gogglehead just got lucky again! I can fight on my own, I don't need the Gogglehead, I don't need his pathetic pet, and I especially don't need you! I don't need anybody…" she muttered, leaving the room and somehow managing to slam a sliding door.

Renamon stood still, contemplating Rika's complete reversion to her old self. Even beyond that, she seemed worse than she had ever been. She frowned.

* * *

Takato had decided that morning that he was going to be a better Tamer. The previous two days had opened his eyes to the gap which separated him from being a 'Good Tamer', and he had decided to start pulling himself closer to it. 

First of all, he had to become better at the cards. He'd completely fumbled the day before, during the battle, and he wanted to avoid any repeats of that in future. He would've gone to Rika, her being the 'Digimon Queen' and all, but he knew that it would inevitably be a fruitless cause, filled with insults and complaints. Plus, he also knew that she wouldn't want him over her house again, not after last time.

And so he sat under the dinosaur, surveying the game he was having with his friend Henry. Henry seemed to play the game with a confident maturity well beyond his years, he didn't boast about his moves at all, unlike Takato.

Takato smiled cheerfully, he was about to deal the finishing blow in one of the rare games that went well for him. "And so Gargomon Digivolves to Rapidmon, and speed activate…"

Henry groaned, sweatdropping slightly. _'Rapidmon is already one of the fastest Digimon around, what's he doing?'_ Henry sighed. _'I guess I could let him stay alive for a little longer, but then again, he did ask to be taught how to play…'_ "I have a system crash card…" he said, turning over the card.

Takato groaned, falling back. "Oh man…" he complained. Henry chuckled, Takato was always ungraceful in defeat.

"Maybe you need to go back to the basics…" Henry suggested.

"Yeah, okay…can you teach me about how to use modify cards properly?"

Henry grinned, he knew exactly why Takato wanted to know how to use modify cards. The battle he had witnessed had been a complete and utter debacle of the highest proportions. Takato couldn't afford to fail in the heat of battle like that. Henry nodded. "Sure…" he replied, sorting through his deck for what he needed. He held up a selection of cards. "I'm guessing you at least know how modify cards work?" he asked.

Takato nodded. "Well, I'm not that stupid…" he joked. "I come close though…"

"Right, but you can use two cards in succession effectively in what's called a combo…say, speed and hyper wing…or defence and targeting."

"Yeah, like flying quickly at the opponent or blocking moves and aiming your own more effectively, right?"

"Yeah, kinda like that…" Henry replied, thinking that, if he didn't know Takato's secret, he'd think that Takato was looking way too deeply into this.

"So if I figure out exactly what combos work best, I can be a better Tamer…I mean card player?"

Henry nodded, smiling in amusement. "Yeah, you can get some pretty potent results like this, and give your side a lot of firepower!"

"I can give ya firepower right now, BADA BOOM!" a voice joked, a flame flying through the hideout.

Takato groaned. "Oh great, it's Impmon…"

"Good to see you're glad to see me toots!" Impmon replied, looking at the boy, before turning to Henry. "Hey, ain't I see youse someplace before?" he asked.

Henry shook his head. "No, I've never seen you before…"

"You're lying, I saw ya yesterday right before dat battle with dat Devidramon!"

Henry felt slightly nervous, looking to a bewildered Takato, who Impmon returned his attentions to.

"Hey Takato, not with your little pet Guilmon?! Geez, you're pathetic, why don't he just run away?!"

It was now Takato's turn to be nervous, as Impmon got angry.

"Hey, one of ya reply to me or something!" he insisted. Henry frowned, as Impmon leapt forward, fists out.

"Henry!" Takato yelled.

Henry grabbed Impmon's fist in mid air, throwing him to the ground, to both the Imp's and Takato's surprise. "Now you just wait a minute, why are you attacking us? What's wrong with you?" he asked, pressing the purple Imp's wrist to the ground.

"Hey, get off of me ya lousy human!" he insisted, shaking himself free. "I'm leaving, you're all a bunch of wimps anyway…" he complained, leaping away, as Takato looked to Henry in amazement.

"Wow, that was pretty impressive…"

"I take Martial Arts, that thing couldn't even punch properly, it was easy…"

"Yeah…" Takato replied, surprised by Henry, but also concerned. _'I better go check on Guilmon before Impmon gets to him..' _he thought, standing up. "I've got to go now, sorry about this but I've got to go help at the bakery…"

Henry smiled. "Never mind, I can teach you more at another time…"

Takato smiled. "Great. Anyway, see ya…" he replied, walking away. Henry eyed him suspiciously as he headed in the opposite direction to that he normally took to go home. Once Takato was out of earshot, Henry stood up and began to follow. He had a feeling where he needed to be headed.

* * *

Renamon frowned, sitting on the rooftop of Rika's home. She had no idea where Rika had gone, she had seemingly just stormed out, and Renamon did not feel like she could follow. The sky had begun to take on an orangey tint, the oncoming sunset not being subtle in any way about its presence. 

'_Guilmon and his Tamer, their relationship is so different from mine and Rika's…I wonder, if I acted more human would she accept me, would she finally let me get close to her?'_

Renamon bowed her head, looking down at the garden below.

* * *

Henry looked curiously on from some bushes to one side as Takato arrived at the 'hideout', watching him walk up the steps and ducking slightly when Takato glanced around his back. He was clearly very protective of Guilmon, and by the way he'd acted in the past, was concerned that anyone could find out about him. 

"Yay, Takatomon!" Guilmon cheered, stepping to the gate of the hideout as Takato opened it. Guilmon leapt on his Tamer happily.

"Guilmon…too…heavy…get…off…please…" Takato groaned.

"Sorry…" Guilmon apologised, moving to one side as Takato stood up.

"Can you please stop calling me Takatomon?"

"Sorry Takato…"

"That's better…hey, has Impmon been here?"

"No, he hasn't…why?"

"He was annoying me and Henry just now, and I was hoping he wasn't coming to you…"

"Henry?"

"Yeah, my friend, you know, I mentioned him…" Henry smiled; it was good to know that, despite what Takato had said previously, he was a friend to the Goggle-headed boy.

"Oh yeah…can I meet him?"

Takato frowned, moving away from eye contact with his partner. "I'm not sure Guilmon, I'd like you to, but…I don't want to risk losing you if people find out, you know? And I haven't even known him for a week, I'm not sure if I can trust him yet…"

"Okay Takatomon…"

Takato and Henry both chuckled. Clearly, this wasn't a problem that would go away easily. "Guilmon, can you at least try not to call me Takatomon?"

"Okay Takatomon…"

Takato groaned, smiling and checking the time on his D-Arc. "I know I used it as an excuse on Henry, but I actually do have to go to the bakery now to help out…" he said, turning.

"Okay…can you bring bread tomorrow?"

"Of course I will…" Takato replied, turning and walking away. "See ya…"

"Bye Bye!" Guilmon cheered, and Henry watched him return into his 'home', dirt flying out occasionally as he continued digging.

'_Hmm, maybe I should cut Takato some slack…he wants to tell me, but I understand why he doesn't trust me yet…I still want to see Guilmon though…'_ Henry thought, glancing to the time on his watch. _'I do have to go home now, my Dad's going to teach me more about programming…'_ he thought. _'I really should've finished reading that book rather than playing or thinking though…'_ he added, standing up and leaving.

* * *

Rika walked through a subway station, her fists still clenched in anger, but also feeling tinges of fear and regret. People chatted around her and none paid any real notice to her. 

She froze, her pupils dilating as her back seemingly turned to ice. She shivered, crossing her arms and turning quickly to confront whatever it was. "What do you want?!" she asked, surprising two passengers.

"Uh…nothing…" one of them muttered, surprised at her outburst. Rika noticed a ghostly apparition moving out of the corner of her eye on the stairs, and ran between the two men.

"Get outta my way!" she said, running along the platform and up the stairs, fists clenched in anger at whatever was causing this.

She paused on a landing, looking around for the figure which had vanished. "Whatever you are, come out!" she called.

No reply.

She breathed deeply, leaning against the wall and bending over, putting her hand on her heart. Her breaths were shaky and laboured, and she felt fear, and panic, and alarm, sweeping through her. She considered calling for Renamon, but she knew that after what she'd said to her, she just couldn't.

Rika moved to stand with her back to the wall, looking out at the staircases in front of her. Whoever it was would show up sooner or later to get her here, and now she had the best point of view for it.

The wall dropped in temperature, turning icy to the touch as Rika panicked. A pair of arms came out either side of her, one black and demonic and the other icy and cold. They grabbed her, covering her mouth and grabbing her torso with their side, as she struggled to scream for help, her pupils dilating in fear as a mist descended in front of her. The mist swarmed her vision, as an evil laugh ran through her ears.

The landing silenced, as there was no evidence left that either Rika or the arms were ever there.

* * *

Rika opened her eyes, holding herself as she felt the temperature change. The area around her was a deep blue, even the floor, and there was no end in sight. "It's so cold…" she muttered. 

A pair of wings appeared to either side of her, and she looked up in fear.

"Welcome…" greeted a white demonic head with flat pink eyes and fangs, as she felt herself lifted by the wings. "This is my humble abode…"

"Are you a Digimon?" Rika asked nervously.

"Yes…"

"This is a Digital Field…"

"Exactly, you must appreciate its beauty…it suits you perfectly…"

"Huh?"

"Your personality, your treatment of others, your lack of care for anyone but yourself, cold as ice and beautiful as its structures…you demand perfection or you dismiss others…"

"Yes…" Rika said, unsure of where this was going, and scared of what could happen, and what this being wanted from her.

"Since I understand you and want to be perfect for you, we are destined to be partners…"

"Partners?"

The cold had begun to affect Rika's sense of perception, as she shivered faintly. She looked around slightly, feeling her eyes cold in their sockets. "I…already have a partner…Renamon…" she muttered.

"And she has taken away the softness that I appreciate in you…you have the chance to return to that, to be strong, and you have taken it…be my partner, share your strength with me, and we will be unstoppable…"

"_**It's no accident that we're a team: share your strength with me, and we will be unstoppable…"**_

The words were eerily similar to those of Renamon. A shiver went down Rika's spine.

* * *

Renamon stood up, hearing Rika call her name. "Rika, where are you?" she asked, walking up the rooftop, before pausing, words running through her head. 

"_**I can fight on my own, I don't need the Gogglehead, I don't need his pathetic pet, and I especially don't need you! I don't need anybody…"**_

"Rika…" she muttered.

* * *

IceDevimon frowned as he felt Rika shying away from him. "Renamon…what have I done?" she muttered, reaching down to her D-Arc. If she were to call her partner, then all of his chances to get her to become his Tamer would be lost in a second. A mere talk between the pair could ruin that, and so he would have to pull out his trump card. 

He placed his hand over hers on her D-Arc. "I have to show you something…" he said.

"What is it?" Her voice continued to be monotonous, and yet strangely sad at the same time. It was something he found attractive about her, how even when she was not attempting to be cold, she still managed it. She would be perfect as his partner.

"I have a collection that will prove my power to you…" he continued, raising his wings as the chamber illuminated, highlighting dozens of icicles attached to the floor and ceiling. Rika gasped, every one of them had a Digimon trapped within them, even if Renamon were to do the same, she could never match this particular collection.

He was strong, so incredibly strong, he was perfect for her.

So why did she feel like she didn't want to be his partner?

* * *

Calumon floated near people looking curiously up at the ice structure on top of the building. It was an impossible occurrence, ice rarely appeared in Japan normally, let alone in September, on top of a building, and this localised. Calumon looked on in awe, before turning as he felt a Digimon approaching. He smiled upon seeing Takato and Guilmon running determined towards him. 

"Hey guys!" he cheered, watching as they hardly noticed him. "Where are you going?" he asked.

* * *

Rika looked closer to the creatures in the ice. The Digimon varied extremely. Gotsumon, Vegiemon, Elecmon, Magmamon, Gazimon, Mushroommon, Floramon, Monodramon, Angemon, Tyranomon, all common rookies and champions frozen in the ice, with some rarities as well. Even a MarineAngemon, a tiny being that Rika knew was deceptively powerful from the card game, and a Mega level to boot, was frozen in stasis within one icicle, looking like it was screaming. 

"Ice is an impressive power…it can beat anything, nothing can withstand ice that is cold enough…be they Baby or Mega, Vaccine or Virus, Human or Digimon…" IceDevimon noted evilly.

"I see…" Rika noted monotonously.

"I have hunted them for years, hundreds of Digimon, some whose data I loaded, and others frozen for my own amusement…I am that powerful…some may have been friends, some may have been partners…"

Rika gasped, recalling her own hunting of the Gogglehead's partner, which had now ceased when she realised that making him lose his partner was just like when Dokugumon nearly took hers, the Renamon who had cared for her and been there for her regardless of how she treated her. How could she forget that and just tell Renamon that she didn't need her?

"But as you once said, they are mere stepping stones…"

"I never said that…"

"Ah, but you did…I observed you keenly as you fought to make your Digimon digivolve, I fight to do the same…we want the same thing…"

Rika's face turned to one of alarm and worry, as did her voice. "No, I couldn't see it before but there's more to Digimon than fighting, I'd kiss the Gogglehead before I ever let Renamon become what you are…" she said, before her voice took on a grave tone. "A monster…"

"Better a powerful monster than a weak nobody, do you really want to be a nobody?"

"I'll tell you what I don't want to be…" Rika replied, her determination and confidence returning as she forced herself free, leaping down and confronting the demon. "A partner of some freak show Digimon!"

IceDevimon chuckled. "Your words do not hurt me, and I know that is not how you really feel…"

"You think you know everything about me, but you don't, so tell me, what do you really want?"

"You are beautiful when you are angry…I've been searching so long for someone like you, with a heart of ice and will of stone, and now I have found you…I want you to be my Tamer!"

"In your dreams pal!" Rika insisted, groaning as he threw his arm out and grabbed hers. She struggled to break free, as IceDevimon glared to her.

"I know you are only playing hard to get, I want to be the strongest Digimon, you want to be the strongest Tamer, a perfect match don't you think?"

"Never!" Rika replied. She'd never have such a creep for a partner, compared to Renamon this guy was a moth. Renamon could beat him any day, any time, any place.

"Are you thinking of that pitiful excuse for a Digimon that you call Renamon?" IceDevimon asked. Rika broke free from his grip, moving back and grabbing her D-Arc with her hand. "You surprise me, settling for second best, I see hanging around with her and the other human you scarcely call a friend has made you weak…you waste your time with beauty when you could tame the beast!"

Rika glared up at him, as his flat pupilless eyes glared back, she now holding her D-Arc.

"Go ahead, summon her, I will prove my power by wiping her data to shreds…"

"No way…" Rika replied.

"Then I'll just have to call her myself…" he replied, touching his gem on his head and causing a beam of light to fly upwards.

* * *

Takato saw the end of the stairs in sight as he reached the rooftop doors, pulling on his goggles. "Ready boy?" he asked his saurian partner, who nodded. "Let's try not to get creamed…" he added, walking forwards as the doors opened automatically, a strange feature on a set of rooftop doors but nonetheless. 

The first thing they noticed was ice. Lots of it.

"It's so cold…" Takato said, shivering.

"Hey, it's a big bat thing and Rika!" Guilmon cheered in alarm. It was strange that he still called Takato Takatomon but called other humans by their proper names, something that Takato knew he would need to remedy at some point. Takato looked across the room, lifting his Goggles after he noticed the lack of a mist. He gasped at the sight, as he raised his D-Arc.

"What's going on? Hmm…IceDevimon, Virus Type, Champion Level, attacks Frozen Claw, Avalanche Claw, Tundra Freeze and Evil Wing…" he read, looking up to see the positions of the pair in more detail.

"Ah, it is the pathetic waste of space that you call a friend…" IceDevimon insulted, grabbing Rika's shoulders.

'_She called me a friend?'_ Takato pondered, before realising he had bigger problems. "Let her go now!" he yelled angrily, Rika surprised to see him so angry about what was happening to her. Then again, Takato was kind to everyone it seemed, although even he had a limit which she had crossed several times.

"My Tamer and I were just getting acquainted…"

"She's not your Tamer, her partner is Renamon!"

IceDevimon smirked, looking to his 'partner'. "I think it's time for a little upgrade, don't you?"

"Let me go you frozen freak!"

"Takatomon, what are we going to do?" Guilmon asked, Takato noting periodically that he hadn't rushed in with his eyes feral yet.

"I don't know…he's got her hostage…we need a strategy…I wish I'd listened to Henry a bit more about the cards…" Takato muttered.

"So…do I attack then?"

'_Hmm…he's not going to injure her if he wants her as his Tamer…so…'_"Yeah, go get him!"

Guilmon growled, rushing forward at speed towards the ice demon. "Let her go!" he yelled.

IceDevimon smirked. "Good, another item for my collection…TUNDRA FREEZE!" he called, as he launched freezing beams from his eyes, Guilmon frozen on the spot by them, mid-run.

"Guilmon!" Takato yelled in fear.

IceDevimon began to laugh evilly, as Calumon sat on the rooftop entrance, watching. "This isn't going well…" he noted.

Takato began to kick the ice, trying to break it, to no avail. He betted that even Rika couldn't break it, and that was saying something.

"Better act quick before he catches Hypothermia…" IceDevimon taunted.

Takato glanced up, noting someone's absence. "Hey, where's Renamon?" he asked.

IceDevimon laughed, as Rika's eyes turned hollow, looking to one side. "Renamon's gone…"

Takato looked up to IceDevimon, his eyes angry. "You loaded her data!" he assumed.

"No…I said I didn't need her…even if I called her, she wouldn't come…" Rika said, her voice and emotions frail.

"It proves she's too weak to have a powerful Tamer like you!"

Rika struggled free, leaping aside.

"You need a partner who understands you and appreciates you! I embrace your cold strength! Embrace the future I offer!"

"Renamon…" Rika moaned, now afraid of the demon which stood arms out in a pose of strength.

The ice suddenly groaned with a collision, as the ceiling glowed and broke. IceDevimon looked up in annoyance, as Takato and Guilmon looked on in shock. Renamon stood above them, as Rika stared on, a mixture of shock and gladness in her about it.

"I don't believe it…" she said in awe.

"Ah, Renamon, I've heard so many pathetic things about you from your Tamer…" IceDevimon greeted. "Shame that I have to destroy you…" he added.

"No!" Rika called, but it was feeble and useless as IceDevimon stepped forward.

Renamon leapt into the air, crossing her arms. "DIAMOND STO…" she began, before IceDevimon winded her with his claws, before sweeping her aside.

"FROZEN CLAW!" he roared, laughing as she hit the ground, weakened already. She looked up and stood up as IceDevimon flew towards her, crossing her arms again.

"DIAMOND STORM!"

"FROZEN CLAW!"

The diamonds fell to the ground as IceDevimon's arm hit Renamon's head. She groaned in pain, collapsing to her knees as Rika stared on in shock. She fell aside weakly, reminiscent of the Dokugumon battle, except this time there was no Rika to catch her.

"Rika, she has to digivolve now!" Takato called as IceDevimon landed.

'_I can't let her digivolve; she might end up like IceDevimon…'_

Renamon pushed herself up slightly, looking to Rika with her worn eyes. Rika couldn't keep eye contact with her, she looked aside.

'_Forgive me…'_ she thought.

"Why do you look at her with care? A Digimon is only useful if it can fight!" IceDevimon mocked. "Why do you care for this pathetic waste of data?"

"She's my friend…" Rika replied quietly. "I care because Renamon's my friend!" she yelled louder, looking into the demon's eyes as her D-Arc glowed.

Calumon cheered as his ears grew and his symbol glowed.

**DIGIVOLUTION**

**Renamon Digivolve to…Kyubimon!**

"Why did you digivolve?!" Rika asked fearfully.

"FOX TAIL INFERNO!" Kyubimon summoned, fires appearing around IceDevimon as she aimed. He leapt up, flying into the air as the flames burned nothing. Kyubimon looked up. "DRAGON WHEEL!" she roared.

"TUNDRA FREEZE!" IceDevimon called, a beam freezing the dragon in mid-air. Kyubimon fell out of it to the ground.

"Kyubimon!" Rika called fearful, her pupils dilated.

"I have to do something!" Takato insisted.

Kyubimon sat up weakly, sending an attack even when she was so weak she could only afford one flame. "FOX TAIL INFERNO!"

IceDevimon simply moved his head, raising his hand. "TUNDRA FREEZE!" he called, the beam flying towards Kyubimon.

'_No…'_ Rika thought weakly, knowing it was too late.

'_No…'_ Calumon thought weakly, knowing that he was helpless to do anything.

"NO!" Takato yelled angrily, strongly and loudly, as Guilmon glowed, the ice shattering as a huge apparition of a tail blew forth from his, colliding with IceDevimon and his attack and throwing him into the wall.

Kyubimon and Rika looked to Takato and Guilmon in shock. Takato's fists were clenched, but they weakened when he saw Guilmon, eyes glowing red and hazard glowing brighter than ever before. He growled.

"Are you okay Guilmon?" Takato asked nervously.

"Are you with me Tamer?" he asked, surprisingly coherently and with determination compared to his usual self.

"Um…" Takato began, looking to IceDevimon flying forth from the wall again. "Right!" he declared, clenching his D-Arc in his hand. _'I hope Henry's combo works…'_ "DIGI-MODIFY…Speed Activate!" he called, as Guilmon ran forward preparing a fireball in his jaws.

"Persistent aren't we?" IceDevimon noted.

"PYRO SPHERE!"

IceDevimon quickly dodged as the ball of fire hit the wall behind. "FROZEN CLAW!" he roared, Guilmon grabbing the claw violently as it reached him.

'_Already he's doing better than Renamon…'_ Rika thought sadly.

"DIGI-MODIFY…Hyper Wing Activate!" Takato called, sweeping the second part of his combo through his D-Arc.

Guilmon, using his already held-claw as a grip, flew forward into IceDevimon, quickly speeding towards the ice wall.

"Let me go!" IceDevimon growled, as Guilmon smashed him into a wall, preparing another fireball as he fell away.

"PYRO SPHERE!" he roared, the ball colliding with IceDevimon's midsection.

"No!" IceDevimon yelled, his last words as he broke apart into data, his arm disgustingly falling near a horrified Rika.

Guilmon quickly absorbed the data, his first data. Takato looked up in amazement, it had worked really well.

He was a good Tamer after all.

The ice faded, and Takato walked up to Rika, Guilmon landing nearby. Kyubimon sat weakly watching the pair.

"Rika, are you okay?" Takato asked, his voice concerned.

"I hate 'em…" Rika cursed.

"Well, thanks to me he's gone now…" Takato noted, realising that the 'thanks to me' part probably wasn't apt only when it was too late.

"Not him…" Rika continued spitefully.

"Huh?"

"I hate Digimon, all of 'em!" Rika yelled. Takato looked on in surprise, Calumon and Guilmon frowned sadly, and Kyubimon stood up. Rika stormed away towards the roof building, and her chance to escape.

"Come on Rika, you don't mean that!" Takato called. He turned to see Kyubimon leap from the railings.

Takato stood, glancing to them.

"Hey, what's wrong with you, aren't you supposed to be friends?!" he yelled. It was too late, Kyubimon had vanished, and Rika had left.

Takato frowned, glancing to his partner. _'Just what was that tail thing?'_

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

A bit of a twist on what you were expecting in the battle, and a foreshadowing of later events. Please review. 

Next time…

Does Rika really mean it? Will they ever reconcile? What was that tail thing?

Find out in 'Old Habits', Chapter Nine of Deviations.


	9. Old Habits

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story (except where stated).

* * *

**DEVIATIONS**

_**Chapter 9**_

_Old Habits_

* * *

The night once again drew a dark mood on all, assisted by that day's events. None less than Rika Nonaka, as she stood in her room, clutching the D-Arc and her card holder that she had worn practically every day for the past month and a week. 

No longer.

At one point she would've seen it as a great triumph to be able to get rid of the contraption. It would entail that her partner was strong enough not to need a moulded piece of plastic or some pieces of strengthened paper to fight, but clearly that was no longer the case.

Her partner came to mind, the partner who had deceived her and treated her like she was a baby. No one would ever treat her like that, she didn't care where Renamon ended up, as far as she was concerned, that part of her life was over.

She tossed the pair of items into the waste bin in her room, landing on piles of paper and assorted objects that were similarly unnecessary. She looked at them for a few second, her violet eyes having a short lasted longing for something, before it was dismissed.

"I hate Digimon…"

* * *

Takato on the other hand, was a person who couldn't possibly hate Digimon. Or stay mad at something for too long. Or concentrate on something bad for longer than an hour. Well, he could have, but it simply didn't show… 

"Hyper Wing and Speed modify cards, you lose Henry!" Takato cheered, playing down his moves. A pleasant day after school had naturally erupted into a game of Digimon, and Takato was eager to reuse the strategy he had been taught by Henry the other day, that had worked so well in the battle against IceDevimon.

Henry smiled and nodded. "You did great…" he congratulated. "Another game?"

"Of course…" Takato replied, pausing when an electronic beeping sounded from under his jumper.

Henry paused, eager to see how Takato would explain this situation, while Takato felt nervous.

'_I can't get my D-Arc out, he'll see it…but I have to check it…hmm…'_ "Oh great, my pager…" he noted.

Henry cocked an eyebrow. "A…pager?"

Takato scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, my mom got sick of me taking so long to get to the bakery that she bought me a pager, she must need me to help in the store…" he replied, Henry not buying a word of it. "Sorry about the game…"

Henry shrugged. "Never mind, we'll play when you next get a chance…"

Takato smiled, standing up out of the dinosaur. "Great! Well, see ya…" he said to Henry, as he headed away.

"Don't poison too many customers!" Henry joked, watching as the boy, as usual, headed in the opposite direction to his home. He was going to get Guilmon, which gave him a chance to go and see.

He gathered up his cards, beginning to sort through his deck. He'd wait a while, Takato's battles normally meant he would be away from the hideout for at least thirty minutes, he was in no hurry. Plus, the risk of bumping into Takato by heading there now was too great, so he decided to leave it for the time being.

* * *

"Hey Guilmon!" Takato called, arriving at the hideout. 

"Hey Takatomon…I smell a Digimon!" the saurian replied.

Takato took out his D-Arc and his new favourite two cards, grinning. "Yeah, I know…time to get some more action Guilmon, with this card combo, we're unstoppable!"

"Yay!" Guilmon cheered, as the pair raced away from the hideout.

'_This'll be interesting, first battle without Rika in it…I hope…'_

He recalled the previous day, events he had pushed from his mind. His partner seemed to have no idea about the tail thing when consulted on it, and he'd ended up dropping the issue, knowing he'd find out in time. The much more obvious remaining issue was Rika and Renamon. Takato wished he could've stopped their fallout, but nothing could have worked. After Rika said she hated Digimon, Kyubimon had simply left, neither speaking from then on despite Takato's attempts to stop them leaving.

This, naturally, left him with a nagging problem that was, what was he supposed to do if he came across a Digimon too strong even for Growlmon to handle? Without Rika, what would he do?

"_**Gogglehead…you really need a backbone…"**_

Despite the fact she hadn't intended it that way, Takato knew that Rika was right; he was going to have to learn to fight his battles on his own.

He pushed his card combo back into his pocket.

They'd fight, and they'd be unstoppable!

* * *

"I can't seem to secure a tracer lock on the anomalies' data…" Tally reported. 

"We won't make it in time; it's going to bioemerge…" Riley analysed.

"Use the Digital Field Deletion Program!" Yamaki ordered.

"But DFDP hasn't been completely tested…" Riley replied. "The Digimon has breeched, at this stage it could be extremely dangerous!" she warned.

"Don't argue with me, launch it! That wild one is a ticking time bomb!"

* * *

Takato grinned as he neared the Digital Field, a somewhat sadistic grin since he was looking forward to a battle. Regardless, he was prepared, he had his pair of cards, he had Guilmon (who in his running wasn't exactly pulling off the 'costume' tactic) and he was ready to battle, nothing could stop them. 

The Digital Field was at a busy junction between two roads, and Takato stopped on an overbridge to watch it and see what would come out. Would it be a rookie, would it be a champion, or maybe even an Armour level? That was the thrill of Digimon taming, he knew it was, and he slightly understood why Rika enjoyed Renamon's battles, although she didn't seem to enjoy them as much as he was looking forward to this battle.

Car horns and engines sounded as the lights were stuck at red. Takato presumed it was something to do with the Digital Field; maybe it could affect electronics or something.

"When are we going down to attack?" Guilmon asked. Takato grinned, patting his partner on the head.

"As soon as the Digimon appears, right now we'd run straight into some cars…" he answered. Guilmon smiled and nodded.

"Good…what are cars?"

"Those big vehicles down there, all lined up…"

"Are they going to move?"

"If the lights change, yeah, but otherwise you're going to have to fight around them…"

"Okay Takato…"

"Hey, you forgot the 'mon'!" Takato cheered, glad for his partner's listening to him.

"Oh…sorry Takatomon, I won't forget it from now on…"

Takato groaned. "That's not what I meant…"

"Sorry…"

"Anyway, it's up to us to defend Tokyo from now on, so we better get used to this!" Takato cheered, determination in his eyes as he stared on at the Digital Field.

It suddenly faded and vanished, the lights turning green and the traffic moving on.

"Huh?" Takato asked. "What happened?"

"Did the Digimon go away?" Guilmon asked.

'_What's going on?' _Takato pondered.

* * *

"Digital Field is terminated…" Riley reported. 

"Good…what was the effect on the real world?" Yamaki asked.

"I'm still collecting data…" Tally replied.

"Good, collect the data on the point of termination as well…"

"Affirmative…"

Yamaki chuckled, flicking his lighter. "Data on the internet, nothing more…"

"I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!"

Yamaki turned to the voice, and saw nothing. Just what was that?

He glanced to the two operatives, who seemingly haven't heard. What was going on?

* * *

Henry walked towards the hideout, carefully checking that Takato and Guilmon had left yet. He intended to check out the hideout, to see if he could figure out anything more to do with these Digimon. 

'_Where did they come from?'_ he pondered, walking up the steps and looking into the dug out building. _'And why are they exactly like in the TV series, well, mostly?'_

He placed his hand on the dug out wall, surprised at how anything could've managed to burrow through concrete. It was pretty impressive, although the power that the Digimon had was worrying at the same time.

He recalled seeing both Renamon and Guilmon in battle, and how they had managed to cause so much damage to where they fought. Could Digimon really exist in the real world?

I mean, they literally did exist of course, but the problem was, could they really coexist with humans? He knew that his mother and sisters would probably run straight away at the sight of a Digimon, and that his Dad would probably be intrigued by (albeit afraid of) them.

None of the Digimon battles, excepting the Devidramon battle, had been particularly public, but he had a feeling that would change in the future.

Even if Takato were to show Guilmon, how exactly could he help? He didn't have a Digimon, albeit wishing he did, he'd just be a target.

Maybe he could keep people away from the Digital Fields? Or look after Calumon?

What did Calumon do anyway? He thought that he was just an ordinary Digimon, that just happened to be so interested in playing and eating rather than fighting like Renamon and Guilmon, although then again, Guilmon was interested in both. He acted so differently in battle; he seemed to be more under control lately than when he had first seen Renamon and Guilmon fighting, but still different to normally, when he was highly docile.

But, the battle where Guilmon had digivolved had told him otherwise. Calumon had leapt off of his head, his ears out, and then his symbol glowed on his head, before bursting into light. And then Guilmon digivolved to Growlmon. What was that? Did Calumon cause it? Was Calumon really a digimon at all?

He'd never shown any attacks, and he didn't want to fight, not exactly like Digimon he'd seen, both in real life, and in the game he played. So was he a Digimon, or was he something else entirely?

"Henry?" asked a voice, as the boy looked up to see Takato and Guilmon, staring at him standing thinking in the hideout with looks of concern and bewilderment. This was not good. What happened to their battle, it couldn't have finished that quickly, could it? An uncomfortable silence descended at first, until Guilmon interrupted.

"Is this that friend you were talking about Takatomon?" Guilmon asked, looking to his partner.

"Um…yeah…Henry…what are you doing here?" Takato asked.

"That's…a Digimon?" Henry asked, looking to the red dinosaur.

Takato went into worried explanation mode, as he panicked that Henry had found out. "Um…I can explain…" he began, fishing around for something to explain what Guilmon was. He sighed in resignment; even for him this would be impossible. "Yeah, it's my digimon partner, Guilmon…"

"Cool…" Henry replied, smiling to reassure Takato. "Don't worry; I'm not going to tell anyone…"

Takato breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks…"

"Did you really expect me to? This is far too interesting to wreck it like that…"

Takato chuckled. "Yeah, you're not going to believe what I've done…"

Henry chuckled. _'Oh, I think I will…'_

"Takatomon, I'm hungry…" Guilmon complained.

Takato sighed. "How much do you eat? Thank god we own a bakery…" he noted, Henry chuckling at the sight. "Okay, I've got to go get some bread now for Guilmon, you can come if you want?" he asked Henry.

"Yeah, you must have plenty of things to mention…"

Takato smiled. "Yeah…Bye Guilmon…" he said to his partner, as Henry followed him out of the hideout.

"Bye bye!" Guilmon replied.

Henry walked alongside Takato once they got to the path at the bottom of the stairs. "So, where to start?" Takato asked.

"Try the beginning…" Henry replied.

"Of course…well, it all started when I found this blue card in my card box…it was really weird, it just appeared, it was all blue with a black strip down the side and the digimon symbol on it. And then, I used it on my card reader, and it turned into this thing…" Takato explained, taking out his D-Arc and showing it to Henry.

"Can I have a closer look?" Henry asked. Takato nodded, and passed it over to the blue-haired boy, who looked at it with awe. Even having seen the many battles, this was still an amazing thing, as he flicked through the screens, seeing the compasses, the time, and a multitude of other information, gawping at even the simplest things. "This is a pretty impressive piece of technology, I've never seen anything like it…"

"Yeah, I'd love to know who designed it, mine and Rika's are exactly the same, except hers has a blue ring of course…"

Henry glanced to Takato, nodding and passing the D-Arc back.

"Oh, I just realised I've not mentioned Rika before…"

"No, you haven't…"

"Well, anyway, I'll come to her in my story…so I was amazed at the D-Arc, that's what we call them, sounds cooler than digivice…anyway, I took it home that evening, and I'd drawn a picture of Guilmon, and designed him…the D-Arc scanned it…I created Guilmon, or at least his digi-egg!"

"You created him?"

"Yeah…"

"I thought he was just a Digimon that appeared, I didn't think you actually designed him…no wonder I couldn't find him when searching for him on the net…"

Takato nodded, although something bugged him. "Why were you searching for the data on an imaginary Digimon?"

Henry sighed. "I'll be honest with you Takato, I've known about Guilmon since he and Renamon first fought back in the park…"

Takato's eyes widened. "What? You knew?"

"Yeah, I saw both battles with Renamon, and when Hypnos caught you. And then, I saw the battle with Vilemon, and then the battle with Devidramon…"

"Really? That's amazing, I never even saw you…"

"Well, Growlmon nearly burnt me to cinders…"

Takato chuckled. "Sorry about that…did you really see all of those battles? I thought I had a lot to tell you…"

"Yeah…and…I set off the fire alarm at Hypnos…"

"That was you?!"

"Yeah…did it help?"

"Yeah, thanks…"

"Good, I'm glad to know that I didn't set off a fire alarm for nothing."

Takato chuckled. "Hypnos would be after you in a second…"

"Who are those guys anyway?"

"I'm not sure; they seem to be after the Digimon though…"

"By the looks of it, they're not particularly good at it."

Takato chuckled, but then frowned. "Still worries me though, I don't want to lose Guilmon…"

"When did you meet Guilmon?"

"The Digi-egg hatched the next day, and I found him by following my compass. I bravely went down and approached him, and we've been friends ever since."

"Didn't he run away from you?"

Takato hesitated, realising that his lie hadn't work. He sighed. "Okay, to be honest, I was scared he'd attack me at first, and then he ran away when I hid him while I went to school. I found him on the roof."

"I see…that was the day Rika and Renamon attacked you, right?"

"Yeah, it was surprising…I…I thought she'd got past that by now, but…"

Henry looked to him curiously, unsure if he was missing something here. What'd happened since the Devidramon battle and now?

"Well…there was this digimon, IceDevimon, and by what I could tell, he wanted Rika to be his Tamer, and he was a freak too…"

"A Devimon?"

"Yeah, he looked just like the one in the TV show, but he was all icy white…he took out Kyubimon, and then he was only finally beaten by Guilmon, when I used your combo of Hyper Wing and Speed modify cards! It worked really well, except afterwards, Rika said that she hated Digimon, and then Kyubimon and her went separate ways…"

Henry frowned. "Gee, I want a partner and she gets one, and then she loses it…"

"Really, you want a partner?"

Henry nodded. "Yeah, but I don't expect it to happen…and don't say Calumon…"

Takato chuckled. "Wouldn't even think of it…"

They arrived at Takato's bakery, and Takato stopped, stepping through the doors, gesturing for Henry to follow.

"Welcome to…oh, it's you Takato, are you finally going to clean up your room?" Mie asked, greeting her son in only the way she could.

"I'll do it later Mum…this is my friend, Henry…"

"It's good to meet you," Henry greeted, bowing slightly.

"So polite…" Mie noted. "So, why did you come home then?"

"I came to pick up…um…something from my room…"

"Right…" Mie replied, her voice not convinced as Takato gestured to Henry to wait by the stairs, before heading up to his room. Henry paused, looking around the bakery. On this floor, it was half bakery, half home, with a living room at the back and the shop at the front, with the kitchen in the middle. Takehiro, Takato's father, was preparing dough in the kitchen, and he looked to Henry.

"You must be Takato's friend?" he asked. Henry nodded.

"Henry Wong, pleased to meet you…" Henry replied, putting his hand out, but withdrawing it when he realised that in a kitchen, that wasn't a good move by any means. Takehiro chuckled, and Henry turned, hearing someone coming down the stairs. Takato had a rucksack in his hand, and gestured for Henry to follow him into the storeroom, where he proceeded to fill it with bread, bread that to Henry looked rather old. Takato chuckled, noticing his expression.

"Guilmon doesn't mind the day-old bread…" he whispered. "Or the day-day-day-day-day-old bread for that matter…" he added, Henry nodding. "Bye mom!"

"Don't be home too late!" Mie called.

"Fine!" Takato replied, leaving through the door, Henry following. As they stepped out into the street, Henry turned to Takato.

"Well, they seem nice…"

"Really? They drive me nuts…"

"Well, parents always do…you try having three siblings…"

"You have three siblings?"

"Yeah, two older, one a boy, one a girl, and one younger, a girl…"

"A handful?"

"Not really, Jaarin and Rinchei aren't bad, but Suzie can be a bit annoying at times…"

"I've always wondered what it'd be like to have a brother or sister…"

"Yeah…" Henry replied, turning back to the road. The past thirty minutes had been an avalanche of events, Takato had learnt about Henry knowing about his partner, he'd been to Takato's house, and he was now taking bread to a monster that would eat it in about thirty seconds. Plus, he'd learnt of a battle that'd happened that he hadn't even heard of, something that was still concerning him. "So…why exactly do you fight the other Digimon then?"

Takato sighed. "There's really no other way to deal with them…"

"Yeah, but you could…try to reason with them, couldn't you?"

"Never tried that…"

Henry frowned. How did Takato expect to improve the situation if he just continued destroying the Digimon? What if one of them could become his partner? And even if not, maybe they were just confused? His sensei had taught him that, despite knowing martial arts, fighting was never the answer, let alone killing, and yet both Rika and Takato seemed to do it without thinking. If their enemy was Hypnos, why were they destroying the Digimon who could help them in proving that Digimon aren't bad at all? Or was Hypnos their enemy at all?

This wasn't as simple as the TV show.

* * *

Henry smiled, looking to the dinosaur that he'd never seen up close before. "I still can't believe he's real, even after seeing Calumon and Impmon…" 

"Takato, am I real?" Guilmon asked.

"Of course boy, he just means that he's amazed that you exist" Takato explained.

"Oh…are you amazed that I exist?" Guilmon asked, cocking his head in curiosity.

"Yeah, but it's worn off by now…"

"Aw…I thought I was amazing…"

"You are! Seeing you fighting IceDevimon was incredible! Even when you went beserk in those battles, it was still amazing!"

"Is that all there is to it?" Henry asked, his voice stronger than he intended as Takato and Guilmon looked up curiously.

"What do you mean Henry?" Takato asked, his voice bewildered at Henry's outburst.

"Sorry, I said that a bit strong, but…is that all you enjoy, fighting?"

"No, we play too, but…the fighting is the most interesting bit, the intensity, the pressure, the power…seeing my friend fight so well, and being able to help him…"

"But don't you try to avoid fighting?"

"I did once…I suppose Rika has rubbed off on me …"

Henry sighed and nodded. "Okay Takato…" he answered.

* * *

Henry sighed, sitting back in the bath, and sighing, as the tap dripped away. His eyes were full of concern for the topic that had begun to truly worry him that day. 

How could Takato just fight like that? I mean, he was his friend, but he couldn't agree with his tactics. _'There must be a better way than fighting…there's just got to be…it isn't the answer…'_

But what could he do? He didn't even have a Digimon, he was on the sidelines. Sure, he could advise Takato, maybe he'd need to, Takato didn't seem all that great with cards (although he did have his streaks of brilliance, although that could also be luck), but that was the true extent of it all. He'd simply be a target out there, and if Guilmon had to think about protecting more than one of them, there was a much increased risk.

Fighting like that also seemed so shallow. There just had to be something more to it, didn't there? More than simple random Digimon appearing.

Henry sighed. Maybe he was worrying too much, his sister Rinchei had once told him that it seemed to be an old habit of his. The old habits die hardest.

* * *

Rika had gone to bed early that night. There was very little worth staying up for, yet as she lay on her futon, the floor bed, in her room, she simply couldn't sleep. Her red hair was untied from its usual ponytail, and left free on the top of her head and over her ears, a look she wouldn't in a million years want anyone else to see, let alone someone like the Gogglehead. 

Far too much was on her mind for her to sleep. During the day, she'd gone from anger to sadness to anger and back again, and she'd disposed of all of her cards into her bin. She didn't need them anymore, Digimon was simply a little childish game that had gotten a bit too real. Gogglehead and Guilmon could become the greatest Tamer and partner duo ever for all she cared, albeit that naturally they were now since they were the only Tamer and partner pair. Her D-Arc in the bin had reacted during the day, but she'd ignored it, and it had soon silenced.

She recalled the previous day's events, how that monster had kidnapped her and made her listen to his sick ideals, and made her feel like nothing. She'd turned on Renamon, and yet she still came to save her. She was sick of it, sick of the changes in her relationship, sick of having to deal with any of that. From now on, she was her own person, other people were unneeded, they simply made things too complicated.

'_Who needs them anyway?' _she thought, tinges of sadness and depression in her voice as she noticed the wastepaper bin topple over. She looked curiously across the room, whoever it was would better be prepared for a lot of trouble, be it Renamon or anyone.

So why did she call her name when she sat up?

"Renamon?"

Her voice felt eager, longing for that fox which had tricked her so many times. What did the Kitsune get from their partnership? She sure as hell couldn't figure that out. Was it to be strong? Then why did she protect Rika, why did she bother with any of that, when she now would be able to be strong on her own, not needing the girl.

Rika frowned as the white puffball known as Calumon leaped out to stand on the cards that had splayed out of the bin when it toppled, holding her D-Arc and card holder in his small hands.

"Nope, just me…" he said, his ears extending. "How come you threw this away huh? How come?"

Rika's voice turned to one of annoyance and anger, as she glared at the fairy. How dare he enter her room without even her permission? For that matter, how'd he get in without opening the door? She'd made her feelings about him extremely clear, she didn't like him, so why'd he return?

"Get out of my room you overgrown rat!" she said meanly, him frowning and retracting his ears in his normal cute way.

"You're not happy are you?"

Once again, the ears flew out, as Calumon leapt into the air, floating over to her with the D-Arc and card holder still in his hands.

"Let's play, that'll make you happy!" he cheered, landing on the mattress. Rika groaned, what did it take to make this thing go away?

"Oh please…" she groaned, pulling up the cover and turning to one side with her eyes closed, knocking him off it, him landing on his head and moaning as a result. "Leave me alone!" she groaned, her voice muffled by the covers. _'He's like a hyperactive version of Takato…'_ she thought in irritation.

Calumon placed the D-Arc and card holder down after flying over the bed, causing Rika to open her eyes and look across to see him. "Maybe later these will make you…happy!" he cheered, his ears once again flying around as he laughed. "Happy, happy, happy!" he began to chant, leaping across her bed onto the other side. "How about now, well?" he asked.

Rika settled into her covers. "Hmm…"

He wasn't that bad, just incredibly over-cute. And annoying with far too much of that. Someone told her not to keep rejecting his attempts. Was it that little ounce of care she had for anything that threatened to continue to make her life a misery? Rika scrunched her eyes closed, why did she have to care about anything? It'd make her life so much simpler.

And why oh why did she have to think the fairy was like Takato? Now she couldn't get him off her mind either. And when did she stop calling him Gogglehead?

Rika groaned.

* * *

Takato smiled, looking to his childlike partner who waved back to him with his claws, before turning and walking down the steps to calls of "Bye bye!" from behind from the saurian. The night had by now set in, and Takato knew that he'd probably be in trouble with his parents for staying out too late again, but at the same time, it had been a great day. Although he still wasn't sure how he lost his chance at a battle, and he and Henry seemed to have come into conflict about fighting, it was good enough that he now had someone to talk to about Digimon other than Rika who would normally shoot down all his attempts at being friends anyway. 

The park wasn't dangerous this early on in the evening, to be fair, later on at night wasn't dangerous either, but there were far less people around to ensure nothing bad happened and this made his mother usually have a heart attack, or close enough anyway.

Moving back to the subject of the redhead, he contemplated her current situation with her partner. He really didn't like seeing them like that, even if it had been only briefly at the end of the battle, he not having seen either since then. He hoped they would reconcile, but they were both very strong-minded, Kyubimon in particular looked hurt by what Rika had said. He wanted to help get them back together, but knowing his record on that type of thing, he knew it would probably result in failure.

He sighed; it seemed that they never had managed to get back to a 'normal' situation in terms of how things worked for them. Sure, they'd had the odd day or two when it seemed like the current status quo was maintained, but then they were captured by Hypnos, or Growlmon went beserk, or Rika started being a bit nicer, or Rika and her partner had a fight, and everything was thrown for a loop again.

Was it too much to ask to have just a simple team? The situation of knowing that she would be there as soon as she could to back him up, and hopefully, her appreciating the reverse? There had to be tougher opponents coming, and they had only recently managed to get their Digimon to champion (although getting them back from there to rookie had become the new problem). They'd have to be ready to fight whatever came, to protect their family, their friends, even random people they existed in the lives of for a millisecond on the street.

But how could they? With just him and Guilmon alone to fight anything that appeared, would it be enough? Even with their superb card combination.

He quickened his pace, eager to get home before his mother would get too mad.

He paused, noticing suddenly that a yellow fox was in front of him.

"We need to talk…"

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

I split the Musyamon episode in two because I changed the events of the first day to put Takato finding out in. Plus, it makes a nice dramatic ending, don't ya think? 

Next time…

What does Renamon wish to talk about? Is fighting the only way? Are Takato and Guilmon enough to defend Tokyo alone?

Find out in 'Morals', Chapter Ten of Deviations.


	10. Morals

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story (except where stated).

* * *

**DEVIATIONS**

_**Chapter 10**_

_Morals_

* * *

"We need to talk…" 

"Huh?" Takato asked curiously, still stumped by how the vixen managed to appear from nowhere without any warning and present him with the question.

"To be entirely truthful, I would rather talk with someone else, but given that my options are somewhat limited, Calumon having the attention span of a fly, Guilmon having the intelligence of a fly and Impmon being as annoying as a fly, I am forced to talk to you…"

"What about talking to Rika?"

Takato thought Renamon frowned, it was the impression he got from her, although it wasn't all that clear. "I was aware that you are not the best at judging was to ask in uncomfortable situations, so I'll let that one pass…"

Takato frowned, as Renamon glanced aside.

"I presume you also have plenty of questions to ask…but I wish to talk about the more general issues at hand…"

"Okay, but I'm meant to be…" Takato began, before reconsidering. "…okay, let's talk…" Takato finished, deciding that facing the wrath of his mother was something he could at least survive one more time. Renamon's orbs returned to face the brunette.

"I presume you know of somewhere less public near here?"

Takato nodded. "We could try the hideout, but I presume that you don't want Guilmon to hear, but there's a playground nearby, shouldn't be anyone there…"

"Good, because even though I am voicing my thoughts Takato and will hopefully be able to find some answers, you are still not to mention this to anyone…"

Takato frowned; Renamon seemed just like Rika in being closed about her emotions, possibly less so than her Tamer however, given that Renamon was the one who made the redhead become more caring in the first place, although the brunette liked to feel he helped, even if it was only a little. Takato nodded, and Renamon gestured for him to lead the way, before disappearing once again. He glanced around, confused, wondering why she had left, before coming to the assumption that she already knew where they were heading.

* * *

Rika's attempts at going to bed early had failed to make her sleep, as she lay awake, staring up at the beams that made up the traditional ceiling of her home. It was not that her futon was uncomfortable, nor that it was too hot or cold, nor that any loud noises (excepting Calumon, of course, who had left nonetheless earlier, happy as ever) had kept her from her rest, but she simply couldn't shut her mind off. She hoped that she would get tired soon, because she was sick of thinking about the situation. She'd said that she no longer wanted to have anything to do with Digimon, why couldn't her emotions and thoughts accept that? 

She sighed, glancing across to the D-Arc and card holder that Calumon had left on the floor. She'd made no attempt to move them or do anything with them, she'd probably stick them back in the waste bin the next day regardless, but at the moment it wasn't worth the effort. She did ponder for a second what her grandmother, mother or the garbage man would do if they were to discover the odd device, but she dismissed it, she wouldn't tell them, and it could go through the incinerator for all she cared.

She wasn't a Tamer anymore…that life had brought nothing but pain to her, and she was sick of the constant expectations of her and the changes in how she was meant to feel. Why should she care for something she felt no need to care about? She hated all Digimon, be they Renamon, the one who never gave her a true reason for being her partner, Guilmon, the childish buffoon who had a darker side to his abilities, Impmon, enough said, Calumon, the annoying puffball who always made her mind insist on putting the word 'cute' at the forefront, or any old random Digimon that simply wanted to fight and kill.

Takato would probably be freaking out by now about all the responsibility he now had about dealing with the wild Digimon. Either that or, knowing him, he'd be having one of his insane fantasies about being the best Tamer ever. What exactly was it with Takato, anyway? Why did he act the way he did? Why did he insist on trying to be friends with her, even after she shot him down countless times? Was it more than that, more than just an attempt at friendship?

Rika shook her head, that was silly, and even if the Gogglehead did have feelings like that, she couldn't care less. The words 'in his dreams' came to mind, but, then again, that had happened before, so it wasn't as impossible as the phrase suggested.

He was probably doing something stupid right now.

* * *

Sure enough, Takato's assumption at where the vixen had gone to was accurate, as he arrived at the playground, the 'dinosaur', swings and various play-structures scattered around as always. Renamon had positioned herself on top of the bar of the swing set, and Takato felt nervous as her gaze burned him, watching as he walked, before deciding to settle on a roundabout. He put his legs to the ground hard to stop it turning, an attempt that failed as he pushed too hard, pushing the roundabout round and making him fall over. He blushed with embarrassment, before sitting up and scratching the back of his head. He noticed that Renamon had failed to smile, at an act that even Rika would've found amusing, albeit incredibly stupid and a chance to insult him several times. Then again, she did seem to find it vaguely amusing whenever he did something stupid. 

Renamon frowned. Perhaps speaking to Takato wasn't the best idea? She didn't exactly characterise him as mature, although he did have the occasional flicker of brilliance that seemed to tie hand in hand with that. But she needed someone to voice her thoughts to, no answers had been forthcoming to the bigger questions that plagued her mind, and another view on it could help.

She hadn't even considered seeing Rika. The Tamer that had, even after all the fox had done to help her, deserted her completely. She was at her wits end with the girl, she could wreck her life however she wanted now, and Renamon couldn't care less. She was now her own mon, no partner to belong to, and she would fight her own battles.

"Um…so are you going to talk first or am I?" Takato asked nervously, noting the silence and the narrowing and widening of the fox's eyes as he waited for something to start. She was thinking about something, and he wasn't sure what it was, but he hoped that she was considering trying to reconcile with Rika.

"I wish to talk about the state of affairs regarding the purpose of Digimon and humans in this world, and whether Digimon need Tamers at all…"

Takato frowned, this sounded somewhat familiar, the ideals of the purple imp that had bugged them repeatedly came to mind.

"There must be something more than just what we've done so far, mustn't there?" Takato asked.

Renamon frowned. Takato's words had at least a semblance of a point; it did feel like they were waiting for something bigger to happen. Then again, this did also appear to be one of Takato's TV series fixations again, and had she been Rika she would've insulted him on it. But she wasn't Rika, she no longer had any connection to the redhead, and she had no interest in creating one.

"I'm not sure…" Renamon replied. "The question is, even if there is, will Tamers and Digimon really be needed in it, or will Digimon suffice?"

Takato frowned, looking to the playground concrete. "I've always thought that together, Guilmon and I manage to fight well…"

"But Guilmon requires a Tamer to do well, I do not in my opinion…Rika has held me back…"

"Are you kidding? You two are better than Guilmon and me!" Takato replied, surprised at how Renamon was thinking.

Renamon frowned at the immature reply, doubting the wisdom of talking to this particular person. "Hardly an accolade…"

"Hey!" Takato exclaimed.

Renamon ignored the continuing immaturity of the responses, and continued speaking. "Perhaps we managed to attain some level of power, but I now believe I would have achieved a higher level of power in the same time-span without her…"

Takato frowned; he wasn't sure how to respond to this argument now. It was clear that mentioning the idea of being partners wouldn't help. Another train of thought came to his mind. "What about the pair of you caring for each other? Helping each other out in battle, to survive. I know the pair of you really care for each other; you just don't show it…"

Renamon looked to him, pausing periodically, before her expression altered to one of questioning. "Takato, allow me to ask you this, when was the last time that Rika helped me in battle?"

"During the Growlmon battle, she used modify cards on you…"

Renamon frowned. "She did nothing to help me…she never has…"

"Huh? But…"

"During the IceDevimon battle, were you paying any attention at all?"

"Huh? What did I miss?"

"Rika didn't help me at all, even when IceDevimon threatened to destroy me…she has never truly helped me, in every battle her use of cards only negated the fact that otherwise I would have the element of surprise, and the superiority of not having to protect a pathetic weakling…"

Takato was surprised at how Renamon referred to Rika, no-one had ever dared call Rika a weakling before (and even if they did, Takato doubted they would've lived to tell the tale). Takato frowned, glancing to his shoes, pondering and deciding whether to say what had come into his head, before looking up to the fox again. "I think Rika does care…I think she's more than she shows…and I can see it…I know you think the same, why else would you have stayed with her?"

Renamon frowned, looking sadly downwards, before looking up to Takato, her blue orbs filled with sorrow and regret. "Hope…hope that that was the case…turns out I was wrong…"

Takato frowned as the fox vanished into thin air, his chance to help the pair now gone. Then again, he doubted that he could think of anything to make her change her mind. Sighing, he stood up off the roundabout, and began to make way for home, his enthusiasm drained.

His mother was going to kill him.

* * *

Thankfully, Takato managed to survive the scolding of an enraged parent for that evening, and so, albeit his mind slightly lamenting losing his chance to change the situation the previous evening, he was once again back to his cheerful self, as he exited the school, pausing as if wanting to hear something. 

Henry cocked an eyebrow. Takato looked like a gazelle trying to listen for a lion coming, what was he doing?

"Takato?" Henry asked, attracting the boy's attention as he spun round to talk to his friend.

"Yeah?"

"What…what are you doing, have you taken up bird-watching or something?" Henry asked, afterwards thinking that he should by now have become use to Takato's unusual behaviour and tangential mind.

"No…I was hoping another Digimon might attack, I'm ready for battle!"

Henry frowned. Takato still seemed to derive pleasure from battling, was this really the right way to go about things?

"I want to use that combination on Guilmon again…"

"I think you need a vacation…"

"Huh?"

"You're getting a bit obsessed about all this fighting stuff…I mean, you sound like you enjoy it…"

"I do…"

"But fighting just for the point of enjoyment is wrong…that's what I've always been taught…"

"Yeah, but at the same time we're protecting the city, so does it matter if I enjoy doing so? If I was a superhero, I'd enjoy flying and using my powers, even if the point of my powers was to save the city…"

"Maybe…"

"Hmm…I'd love to be able to fly…maybe I'd have wings…yeah, red wings like Guilmon's, and then I could fire energy balls from my hands, and it'd be really cool!"

Henry sighed. Takato's imagination was triggered once again; he only hoped that something came to distract him.

Thankfully, something did. Unfortunately, that thing presented another problem, and brought his own musings back to the fray.

Takato pulled his bleeping D-Arc out of under his pullover using the string attached to it. He grinned, smiling to see the compass.

"Finally!" he cheered.

Henry frowned. He decided to follow, he was curious to see the battle, but he decided also to try and avoid getting involved, for fear of losing his friend or even himself in the process.

"Let's go get Guilmon!" Takato said enthusiastically.

* * *

The air blurred in a fashion akin to heat haze as the first stage of the Digital Field began to take form, a mist beginning to appear soon after. The events were unnoticed by the shoppers of the busy district (although the drivers noticed to some extent by sounding their horns when the traffic light switched to red), but were noticed by two humans and a digimon rapidly approaching the area, and a series of humans working within an agency that none of those on the street knew of, excepting the boys and the dinosaur-like Digimon. 

"Tracer is locked and Yuggoth has been deployed…" the red-haired woman, Riley, reported, as both she and her counterpart typed away.

"Why have you dispatched Yuggoth? We were going to use DFDP on the field!" Yamaki scolded. Riley frowned, she had hoped that her boss hadn't noticed, but it was clear he had.

Thankfully, a gasp from Tally interrupted the proceedings, as she began to type away at her keyboard. "Yuggoth has been destroyed, wild one is about to breech…it's the same one from before! It survived!"

"Stop it doing so!" Yamaki ordered, hiding his true annoyance at DFDP failing to prevent the Digimon returning again.

"Wild one has breeched…" Tally sighed, as Yamaki flicked his lighter, the eerie anticlimax of his reaction leaving worry in his employees. He turned walking towards the door.

"Where are you going sir?" Riley asked.

"To see this battle personally…" the blonde replied.

* * *

A driver screamed in fear as a pair of feet landed on his bonnet and shook the car. He dove out the door as his car was cut in two and blown to smithereens, running to grab a random stranger, who looked to him bewilderingly as unbeknownst to them a dinosaur and two boys passed behind. 

Takato pulled down his Goggles and ran into the mist, Guilmon following. Henry paused; he'd already told Takato of his intentions of not entering the battlefield.

"Greetings…" said the deep voice, as their foe began to talk. Guilmon growled as Takato raised his goggles, pointing his D-Arc to the samurai-like Digimon with orange and dull green armour and a golden mask-like crown shaped like a mythical monster on his head, a mass of purple hair coming from the rear of his head, and running down his back. He brandished a sword in his hand, and glared at the human and Digimon.

"Wow…" Takato exclaimed. "Musyamon, Virus Type, Champion Level, his attacks are Shogun Sword and Ninja Blade!"

"Vengeance is mine!" Musyamon roared, racing forward with sword held forth.

"DIGI-MODIFY…Hyper Speed Activate!" Takato called, Guilmon rushing to one side as Musyamon attempted to follow, growling.

Guilmon turned, running towards Musyamon and leaping around him, kicking out with his muscular legs and throwing the samurai to the ground. They moved apart again, as Takato slashed another card.

"DIGI-MODIFY…Attack Boost Activate!"

Guilmon drew his mouth wide, a ball of flame prepared. "PYRO SPHERE!" he roared, a larger than usual ball of flame hurtling towards Musyamon, who slashed through it and smirked as it broke.

"Taking orders from a human? Pathetic…" he mocked, rushing forward.

"Oh boy…" Guilmon complained, as he dodged to one side, before becoming the victim of a kick.

"Come on Guilmon, you can't give in this easily, you can do it!" Takato cheered.

Henry frowned, his sight into the digital field having been absent for a while now. He hoped that Takato was okay, as he listened to his fellow pedestrians gawp about their lack of visibility of the pedestrian crossing signal through the fog.

A red balloon was let loose, and a young girl with a pink bandana, navy and white shirt and blue dress ran after it.

"Where are you going?" she asked it, as if she expected a reply.

Henry's eyes widened, that girl would get slaughtered in there. He'd said he wasn't going to follow, but it looked like he no longer had a choice.

He ran past his fellow pedestrians into the mist, pausing only to place a pair of green tinted sunglasses over his eyes. He looked into the field, seeing Takato and Guilmon still engaged with the Digimon, which he identified from the card game as Musyamon, and the girl crouched into the foetal position crying about her balloon, not noticing the monsters battling nearly. Henry stopped in his tracks, he knew enough from his sister that it'd be hard to get this girl to move, and she was a target, while Guilmon struggled to fight the samurai, with limited degree of success.

"This is bad…" Henry summarised.

Musyamon shook Guilmon off his arm and leapt backwards, Takato using the chance to swipe another card.

"DIGI-MODIFY…Hyper Wing Activate!"

"Something's wrong…" Guilmon moaned as the white wings materialised on his back. He leapt back to avoid the blade slicing at him.

"Use the wings like last time!" Takato advised in alarm.

"I'll try…" Guilmon replied, leaping at Musyamon, who missed as he slashed. Guilmon continued up into the air, having lost control over his new feature, and floating into the air.

"Is that the best you've got?" Musyamon taunted, as he turned upon noticing the quivering girl.

"Takato, watch out!" Henry called.

"Henry?" Takato asked, surprised that his friend had entered the Digital Field.

Musyamon walked forward menacingly, laughing as he approached his easy target, the girl not even glancing up.

"What now?" Henry asked himself in alarm. He didn't want to fight, why was he in this situation? But how could he get out of this without fighting? Maybe Takato was right, maybe they had to fight?

Takato panicked, seeing the oncoming fate as the girl whimpered, Musyamon raising his blade.

Henry raced forward, hoping that his next move would work. Takato looked on in shock as Musyamon glanced aside, murmuring in surprise at the human racing to attack him, before Henry slammed into his side, knocking him off balance and sending him flying to the floor. The sword clattered to the ground, as Takato looked on in amazement. Henry, not pausing in the process, bent down and picked up the blade, Musyamon growling when he saw the boy holding it menacingly towards his neck.

"Stay away!" Henry warned, his voice determined in spite of his rampant fear.

Musyamon growled, before smirking. The girl looked up in surprise, as suddenly Musyamon vanished, Takato and Henry looking around.

"Where'd he go?!" Takato asked in alarm.

Henry suddenly felt something wind him, and dropped the sword, collapsing to the ground as the sword vanished. Takato ran over to his friend, as Guilmon landed with a bump, holding the balloon in his hand.

"Here you go!" he said happily, as the girl smiled in thanks.

"Thank you…" she said happily, gripping the string tightly.

"Did he…escape?" Henry asked.

Takato nodded, as he glanced at his D-Arc to see the compass again. "He must be this way…come on Henry; we've got to catch up…"

"Right!" Henry replied, determination filling his veins as his pain in his gut faded. They raced out of the fading fog to leave the girl before anyone noticed, before racing off in the direction of the compass.

"Mom, I met a Digimon! And they were real!" the girl cheered happily.

"Sure…that's great dear…" her mother replied, taking her cell phone off her ear for a second.

The cars continued to drive, and a blonde frowned. The battle had been unclear, but the 'Tamer' had presumably won. He spat at the thought, humans interacting with Digimon to fight others. How could a human interact with data as if it were a living being?

* * *

'_Uh-oh, this neighbourhood is getting far too familiar…'_ Takato thought as the residential streets ended and the pathways began, as they chased after their compass. Musyamon seemed to have no idea that they were pursuing, and was running in an arbitrary direction, but suddenly the distance indicator seemed to start decreasing only. Takato cocked an eyebrow, as they turned a corner. 

Renamon faced Musyamon, outside the front gate of the Nonaka household. Musyamon growled in annoyance, as Renamon glanced over his shoulder to the humans and Digimon behind.

"This is my battle…" she warned, intended towards Takato in particular, the brunette looking on in concern at the battlefield.

"I owe a debt to killing them first, so you'll have to wait…" Musyamon replied, turning to face Guilmon and the two humans, the saurian growling.

"Allow me to clear your debt then!" Renamon called, leaping into the air. "DIAMOND STORM!" she yelled, the diamonds slamming into and obliterating the champion's back, as he growled in pain. His data burst, and Renamon absorbed it.

"That was…fast…" Takato noted in shock, surprised at how easily she had dealt with him. Renamon landed from her absorption, and smirked.

"I have proved it…I do not need a Tamer…" she decided, disappearing before Takato could object.

"Hey, come back!" he called, to no avail as he stepped forwards to where they had fought. He sighed in irritation, looking down to the ground.

"For god's sake Gogglehead, go away!" a new voice yelled, as he looked up to see an angry Rika glaring at him. "What the hell are you doing here?" she asked.

"Renamon…was fighting Musyamon, and just beat him…"

Rika frowned, pausing. "I don't care" she spat, turning back to walk through her gate.

"You don't care?!" Henry asked, his voice annoyed. Rika cocked an eyebrow, and turned. "I would do anything for a partner, and you don't even care that you have one…"

"Who's your little friend Gogglehead?" Rika teased spitefully.

"Listen to me!" Henry called. "How can you just think that Digimon are data? Sure, literally they may be, but you must have seen, they have emotions and everything, just like humans…"

Rika glared at him, then back to Takato. "Who is this Braniac?"

"His name's Henry, Rika…" Takato insisted. "And I want to know too…"

Rika frowned, turning once again. "I told you I hate Digimon, and I haven't changed…NOW GO THE HELL AWAY!" she yelled, Takato quivering back slightly as Rika stepped through her gate and slammed it. Takato frowned, looking to the ground.

'_I failed again…even in battle I failed…I failed at even just talking…'_

"Takato, are you okay?" Henry asked. Takato turned to him, frowning.

"Yeah, but I'm a lousy Tamer…I couldn't even deal with that threat, I just reused the same combo again without using tactics…I'm sorry Guilmon…"

"Hey, don't beat yourself up about it; everyone's a rookie at some point…" Henry reassured, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Particularly me!" Guilmon cheered. Takato smiled weakly.

"I know but…I've battled so many times that you'd think I'd have the hang of things by now, but, I just don't…but, I'll work at it Guilmon, and we'll do better next time!"

Guilmon nodded, smiling. "Yeah!"

"By the way Henry, that was pretty brave what you did back there, you saved that girl…"

"Yeah…" Henry replied, what he had done truly dawning on him. _'I guess I can help…I just hope that I'm not always left on the sidelines…'_

"Come on; let's go back to the park before Rika kills me…" Takato told him, the blue-haired boy nodding.

* * *

Rika landed back on her futon, still in annoyance at the pair. _'Who the hell does that new kid think he is? He's not even a Tamer, he's lower than Takato to me, and I didn't even think that was possible…'_

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

Again, changes to the original storyline, ones that fit better with the different setup. Anyone whose read Dimensions should note the reference in this chapter, I thought it would be amusing to have Takato's imagination like that. 

Next time…

Will Rika and Renamon ever get back together? Will Takato ever be a good Tamer? Will Henry always be left on the sidelines?

Find out in 'Roam Alone', Chapter Eleven of Deviations.


	11. Roam Alone

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story (except where stated).

Thanks go out to Crazyeight for beta-reading this chapter, as well as to all my reviewers for reviewing.

* * *

**DEVIATIONS**

_**Chapter 11**_

_Roam Alone_

* * *

On a world scale, Tokyo is definitely a place to be known for the unknown. Be it monsters like Godzilla tearing through the city time and time again in films, or the current Wild One problem currently terrorizing the city more or less daily, if you want to see the paranormal, Tokyo is the place to be.

However, for those not wanting to see (and be scared by) the paranormal, living in Tokyo is a concern. Thankfully, the vast majority of people in this fair city has no knowledge of the threats, and hence feels no unease about them.

The problem is, if the general public were to find out, it would cause mass panic, hysteria even. And so, a secret government agency, previously intended only to monitor the Internet for threats, has had its remit extended, albeit not officially, to cover the wild one problem.

Yamaki frowned. Even if that were their official remit, they were doubtless doing poorly in that regards. They had currently managed to be unsuccessful in a significant number of attempts to prevent the wild ones bioemerging, the process by which these creatures would materialize in the real world. Yuggoth, albeit useful in some cases, struggled with the more complex data patterns they had encountered lately. Yuggoth worked by deleting the Wild One before the paralyzing effect of the Digital Field ended. This had provoked Yamaki to design a new, unapproved program, called the Digital Field Deletion Program, or, as it had begun to be known by him and his two chief operators, Riley Ootori and Tally Onodera, Sweeper.

Sweeper's operation consisted of removing the Digital Field around the Wild One before it could fully form itself in the real world. The intention was that this would destabilize and corrupt the creature, and cause them to break down. However, unlike Yuggoth that was targeted directly onto a point, that is, the Digimon, Sweeper could have unknown environmental effects, something which Riley and Tally had been concerned about.

_A small price to pay,'_ Yamaki thought, a small smirk trying to tug his mouth into a smile. It was to no avail; Yamaki's expression down turned as he looked around at the control room, Riley and Tally continuing to type away as they controlled the threats, or at least, attempted to.

Sweeper was exactly like Yuggoth in one respect. Neither worked. The Wild One the previous day had managed to survive it and reattempt bioemerging. Yamaki scowled, if they were real creatures he'd have caused it a survival instinct, but these things were nothing but mere clumps of data that happened by accident.

"Sir, I've detected a disruption in the network data stream," Tally reported from her workstation, Yamaki turning from his thoughts to face the glowing monitors and those sitting in front of them.

"Origin?" he demanded, his voice vexed and yet still showing command and confidence simultaneously.

"I'm sorry sir, I'm not sure," Tally answered, nervousness joining her tone as she contemplated his reply. Yamaki scowled, turning to face the equipment as Tally silently breathed a sigh of relief, returning to her monitoring duties.

It seemed that others had more success than they did at suppressing the Wild Ones. Two children had acquired the creatures, known to them as Digimon based on the TV series and card game of the same name (which Yamaki had dismissed as but a mere coincidence), and currently seemed to fight alongside them as partners. Worse still, they seemed to be able to track the bioemergences far better, using both a program in the devices they had somehow acquired (and that Yamaki had intended to copy upon previously acquiring the girl's device, a plan unfortunately foiled due to the incompetence of his staff) and the innate ability in the creatures themselves to sense those of their own kind.

Yamaki clicked his lighter as he contemplated the fact that mere children were going out to fight in what was clearly a serious matter. They had so far managed to avoid any major public sightings, but Yamaki knew that it would only be a matter of time before the public knew about it.

He would get rid of these pests that had infected their world, and then he would deal serious repercussions to those children for associating themselves with them. He was not going to have his own agency, a sophisticated high-tech government operation spearheaded by a boss who had worked his way to the top through intelligence and proven skill, be beaten by a couple of children with their little pet Digimon'.

It was time for a new tactic.

* * *

"Takatomon!" cheered a child-like voice as a red dinosaur leapt forward from a concrete shack and pushed a child with a mop of brown hair, yellow goggles and blue hooded jacket to the ground, his friend with blue hair and an orange jacket staring on. To an unknowing stranger, it would look like a scene out of a horror movie.

_The Creature that Ate Peanut Butter…'_ Henry thought, smiling at the scene as Takato groaned at the weight on top of him.

"Okay, two things…" he said, his voice strained. "First, get off of me!" he complained, as Guilmon stepped aside.

"Sorry," the saurian apologized, not showing any real regret for his actions, or even knowing that they were wrong.

"Second, can you _please_ stop calling me Takatomon?" Takato continued, getting to his feet and looking down at the creature as its golden eyes stared curiously up into his hazel ones.

"Huh? Why not?" Guilmon asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"Because it's not my name!" Takato complained.

"Oh…well, what is your name?" Guilmon asked. Takato groaned, scratching his head. "Huh…" Guilmon answered, before attempting to reproduce Takato's groan. "Rahaahaah…that's a funny name…" he answered, smiling.

"My name is Takato!" Takato insisted.

"Oh…" the creature answered. "Since when?"

"Since ever!" Takato insisted, Guilmon looking curiously back at his Tamer.

"Oh" he answered again.

"Well, you two get along like a house on fire," Henry interrupted, breaking the silence that had descended. "What's gotten into you today anyway Takato?" he asked, his tone inquisitive.

"Huh, what do you mean?" Takato asked, looking to his friend as he patted Guilmon's head.

"You're normally a lot more tolerant of Guilmon's actions like that. Well, at least in the time I've been watching you, you have been" Henry explained.

Takato frowned. "Sorry, just been thinking about this whole Rika and Renamon business all day."

"Oh…" Henry answered, nodding. "Yeah, it's concerning me too."

"I mean, I'm not saying I don't enjoy the extra battles," Takato began, invoking a frown from Henry at his enjoyment of killing (mostly) innocent creatures. Takato paused, before continuing. "But…what happens when something comes along that's too powerful for me and Guilmon to deal with?" he asked. Henry frowned.

"Yeah, you guys do go well together, in battle at least…well, when you're not trying to kill each other, or having a squabble at least" Henry noted.

"Hey, she starts most of the fights!" Takato complained.

Henry frowned, noting Takato's child-like attitude. He didn't blame the kid for it, they _were_ children after all, but he was dealing with things way beyond what most children had to deal with. He was facing dangers far worse than simply falling down the stairs' or getting into a fight at school', these truly were matters of life and death, and yet Takato somehow always approached things with an optimistic edge. The kid was hard to keep unhappy for long.

Rika seemed to approach battles without a care for the life and death implications, but in a far different way to Takato. She always seemed to be confident that she'd come out on top. Henry sighed; it would inevitably lead to her downfall, if the pair of them didn't learn to work together. That was, if Rika ever became a Tamer again.

Henry knew he had little influence on the events as they unfolded. Rika, for starters, wouldn't listen to him, and Takato didn't take his words seriously enough. He silently wished that he had his own partner, but knew that that would simply complicate matters further, as he inevitably would have to become involved in killing other Digimon.

He also knew that, with Rika having declared her hatred of Digimon and disowning of Renamon, there was only one actual Tamer remaining in Tokyo.

Takato Matsuki.

Henry shivered. The thought left him with an odd unease. He wasn't sure why, Takato was his friend, but banking the whole city and it's populace on him felt far too risky. Takato seemed to need someone to follow in his attempts to become better, someone to advise him, be it Henry himself with the card game, or Rika with the real thing. Takato was definitely going to make a major mistake if he was left unchecked; it was inevitable, particularly with his clumsiness. And a mistake in this situation could mean innocent lives lost. Takato would have to learn to take things more seriously.

"Henry?" the boy asked, trying to get his friend's attention. Henry looked to him, pulling out from staring on into space and frowning.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about everything."

"Okay…hey, what time is it?" Takato asked, cocking his head.

Henry glanced to his watch, before back to his friend. "Thirty-five past four, why?"

"Aw nuts, I've got to go help at the bakery…five minutes ago…" Takato answered, preparing to leave, pausing to look at the blue-haired boy. "You can stay and talk to Guilmon if you want?" he suggested.

Henry shook his head. "Sorry, I've got Martial Arts practice to attend to…" he answered, turning himself to head the other way, before turning back to the dinosaur and his Tamer. "Bye Guilmon, see ya Takato…" he said, walking away.

"Okay, I'll see you later!" Takato called, as Henry walked away. "Bye Guilmon," he said to his partner as he turned.

"Bye Takato," the saurian replied.

A smile crept onto Takato's face, as he turned back to his partner. "Hey, you got it right this time!"

"Oh…did I?" Guilmon asked innocently, poking his mouth with one of his claws.

"Yeah!"

"What did I get right? I can't remember," Guilmon whinedTakato groaning in response. Would Guilmon ever get this right?

* * *

Yamaki stared at the buildings of the school, frowning as his lighter clicked. The last time he'd been here, he'd been unaware of its significance besides simply being a bioemergence site. But now, from his research into those children, he'd found out that one of the children with Digimon attended here, Takato Matsuki. He had contemplated simply having the boy arrested, but that would be far too public for his liking. Too many people would know.

His research had turned up another interesting fact, that about the other boy he had seen when observing the battle the previous day. The boy, identified as Henry Wong, appeared to have no Digimon, and hence seemed like far less of an important figure in all of these matters. However, it turned out that his father did have some significance. His father, Janyuu Wong, was one of the Monster Makers; the group that had created the Digimon in the first place back in the 1980s.

It would be a delicious touch of irony if Henry were to be harmed by his father's creation. Perhaps that would make the man see the implications of his project.

* * *

Shoes tapped concrete as a girl crossed the distance between her front gate and her home's front door via the wide paving stones laid out as a path. She paused upon reaching the front of the house, turning to glance around the garden and its walls. She frowned as she saw nothing.

"I knew she wasn't coming back. All that partner stuff is nonsense…like she ever really cared about me," she commented, her voice downed and with faint tinges of sadness that even she was unaware of. "No matter what she says," she insisted, stepping around the side to look upon the pond overlooked by her room. "If she really cared, she'd be here," she added, a faint sense of longing embedded within her harsher tones. "She was just using me…" she added, as her gaze as cast down to the grass, a saddened sigh escaping her.

* * *

Yamaki had only just stepped but three paces through the door when Tally spoke up, although she wasn't speaking to him in particular. "A wild one…" she noted, before glancing to his glare, and moving into the standard routine. "Tracer set to monitor progress."

* * *

Henry walked along the path through the park, taking a leisurely stroll to his lessons. Despite his rather prompt exit, he had little reason to hurry. He supposed he could've stayed and talked to Guilmon, but he doubted any serious conversation would result, and the dinosaur was somewhat unpredictable. He didn't want to have to endure being pounced on like Takato did on a daily basis; it looked painful enough for him.

Despite all of that, Henry still felt longings for wanting a partner. Not a partner identical to Renamon or Guilmon (and certainly not like Calumon or Impmon), but a partner to call his own, and to be friends with. Sure, he'd have to fight in battles, but he hoped that would be negated by everything that happened away from the battlefield. Takato looked so cheerful with Guilmon, and it seemed to have helped his confidence too. Henry hadn't paid much attention to Takato before the day Guilmon escaped in the park, but from what he had seen of (and heard about) him, he tended to be somewhat withdrawn with no proper friends. He also seemed to have a habit of saying the wrong thing in the wrong way. Once the normal friendship groups had been established in any class, any newcomers (or people left out) would always find it hard to fit in. Takato's class was somewhat notorious both for its homework-heavy teacher and unruly pupils, and this seemed to have stunted Takato further.

It was a shame really; Takato was a nice kid once Henry had gotten to know him. Sure, he could be a dreamer sometimes, but he seemed to have kindness towards most people. Henry knew that he himself couldn't have put up with Rika if he were in Takato's position. Still, he'd like to be in a position similar to Takato at least.

A plume of white fog in the distance interrupted his musings, as he stopped.

Maybe he'd find at least something of interest from it. Something told him to stop and run away, but another tinge in his mind told him that he could find a partner in it. Later on, he'd reflect on how stupid he'd been.

* * *

A burst like a geyser shot upwards, as three shadows burst from it, looking eagerly about at their new world, a baseball pitch. Their bodies were small, and bipedal, with a dull red tint to their skin. Two small dark gray and white ears came out of holes in their dark-grey head armour, similar to the mace-like shoulder armour. Their body ended in a tail-like abdomen, a small spike tip poking from the bottom. Wings vibrated as they flew forwards, pausing when their path was blocked by a yellow vixen appearing out of nowhere.

The closest of the group growled, racing forward towards the vixen and hitting…nothing. It paused, turning as it saw the Kitsune again nearby.

"Things not what they seem?" the fox taunted.

* * *

"Renamon…" Rika murmured quietly, panic settling into her voice, as she ran up to the fence around the pitch.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Calumon asked, as always never being far from a battle in progress as he leapt from a bush.

* * *

Renamon turned to face one of the approaching Digimon, appearing unaware of another one creeping up behind her, getting closer and closer as it prepared its attack.

A swift movement of the tail threw this particular one away, before she slashed forwards at the threat she could see; slicing through its tiny body and it broke apart into data.

"One down…easy…" she noted, as another drew silently up behind her.

She turned her head upon hearing a noise, but was too late to stop the stinger as it embedded itself in her leg, sending poison into her system as her eyes widened.

"Where'd that come from?" she asked, promptly pulling it out but being too late to avoid herself collapsing to her knees with a groan, as the predators moved closer to her. She clenched her fist, feeling the pain resound through her as she placed her other hand on the floor to avoid collapsing completely. "Rika…where are you?" she asked, looking aside, before frowning.

What was she thinking? Why would Rika, a self-declared hater of all Digimon who despised Renamon so, ever come for her? More to the point, why did Renamon want the girl to come to her rescue? She was far more powerful than that; she didn't need Rika in order to win this battle.

_'I have to do this alone…'_

* * *

Henry cocked an eyebrow at seeing the girl simply standing there staring into the mist. What was she doing? Calumon looked curiously up at her from next to her shoe. Why wasn't she joining the fight?

"Rika?" he asked, pausing as the girl showed no reaction. "Why are you missing the fight?" he asked, noting how unusual this was for her. Was her tiff with Renamon affecting her that much? She stared on into the fog with a depressed expression on her face. "Where's Renamon, is she in there?" he asked. Rika was acting really out of character for her, normally she'd run into a fight all-guns blazing. Well, not exactly, she did have strategy to her battles, but she still never held off on joining a battle, at least when she had a choice.

"She needs you," Calumon said with concern. Rika continued to show no reaction to their words.

---

"LIGHTNING STING!"

Renamon groaned in pain, unable to move away from the bolts of electricity flying forth from the enemy Digimon as she was thrown into the air.

* * *

Rika paused, hearing the sounds of attack cries, electricity and groans of pain from Renamon, as she clutched her D-Arc. This was far too painful to even listen to. She closed her eyes, turning and running, anything to get away from the battle.

"Where are you going?" Calumon asked, hopping after her quickly.

"Rika!" Henry called, wondering what had gotten into the girl. She didn't even try to insult him for showing care. In fact, she hadn't even spoken while Henry had been there. He frowned, as Rika vanished into the depths of the park.

* * *

The two predators eagerly floated over their prey, ready for the finishing blow. Renamon lay helpless on the ground, head to the side and groaning in pain. Her mane was ruffled, as was her fur and tail. The two digimon knew that she was going to be easy to take out with but a single attack, as they advanced, getting closer, and closer.

Renamon's eyes shot open, as she leapt to her feet, still feeling pain in her limbs from the poison but fighting past it, as she leapt between the two enemies faster than they could react. Flying through the air, she turned and crossed her arms across her chest, summoning diamond-like shards.

"DIAMOND STORM!" she called, her voice deep and booming, as the diamonds flew forth to collide with the enemies as they turned. They sheltered their faces with their hands, but it was to no avail as the diamonds covered them.

The sounds of explosions heralded their end, as Renamon landed gracefully back on the pitch. She swept her arms, head and legs back as she began to float centimeters off the ground, her prey's data absorbed into her. She couldn't care less what type of Digimon it had been; why would she ever need Rika there simply to analyze it for her? Data was data, and now it was her data.

She had done it. She had destroyed them without Rika's help. She didn't need her help, and she never would again. Nor had she ever in the first place. Rika was but a distraction preventing her from succeeding; this was her true calling.

She frowned, sighing. If this was what she was meant to be doing, why did she feel so empty? There was no one to congratulate her on her victory (although Rika's congratulations were rarely more than a nod or a note on her performance), no one to talk to. The pain from the poison had subsided with the addition of the new data, but she still felt numb. But there was no one to care for her.

_'I don't need that,'_ she thought. _Rika never cared for me anyway.'_

She strode to the fence as the fog subsided, leaping over and proceeding onwards, until a voice stopped her.

"Renamon. Rika was here, I think she's worried about you."

Renamon turned to see a blue haired boy with an orange jacket. She frowned, she had seen this boy before on occasion, but why was he now trying to speak to her? Her eyes narrowed.

"Who are you?" she inquired.

"I'm Henry, one of Takato's friends…I was at the battle yesterday, remember?" he answered.

"Of course I remember. What do you want?" she asked.

"As I said, Rika was here, and she looked worried."

"Hmm…she is?" Renamon asked, sounding unconvinced.

"Yeah. She didn't even speak; she just looked frozen in fear. And then she ran away…"

"Hmph…I doubt it…" Renamon answered.

"Yeah, but it's the truth," Henry replied, pausing. He noticed Renamon begin to turn, and continued. "Renamon, you and Rika fit together…you should be partners, not enemies."

"Partners?" Renamon asked, disgusted tone in her voice. "Am I supposed to know what that means?" she asked.

"Yeah, you and Rika should be friends and equals…you both know each other's strengths and weaknesses, and you could use them to help each other."

"Rika would never help me."

"Listen, both of you must have had something in common or you'd never have become partners in the first place. It was no coincidence, I'm sure of it" Henry insisted.

Renamon frowned, before looking up. "And what gives you the right to pass judgement on us?!" she asked, passing a glare to Henry. "You do not even have a partner, how can you talk about having one if you don't know what it'd feel like?"

Henry paused, frowning as he looked down to the ground. "I wish I did have a partner…more than anything in the world. That's why I hate seeing the pair of you throw it away like this," he answered sadly. Renamon frowned, turning and walking away, without a word.

Henry frowned. He only hoped that he'd had an impact.

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

And so, I return to writing this. Expect me to alternate between writing for Dimensions and this.

Anyhow, please review.

Next time…

Will Rika and Renamon ever get back together? Will Henry ever get a partner? What is Yamaki planning?

Find out in Partners', Chapter Twelve of Deviations.


End file.
